President Donald Trump visited a Mack Trucks facility in battleground Pennsylvania on June 23, attempting to shift attention to the U.S. economy in his first major public event outside the nation’s capital since he signed an interim agreement to end the Iran War.
The trip to Macungie, in the Allentown suburbs, took place days after Mack Defense received $47 million in programmatic funding to continue building the M917A3 Heavy Dump Truck.
This funding is part of the new five-year contract awarded in June 2025 to Mack Defense for up to 450 trucks, with a total contract value of up to $221.8 million. The HDT, based off the Mack Granite, plays a vital role in construction and upkeep of infrastructure assets, including airfields, roadways, landing strips, supply facilities and motor pools.
“With this funding now in place, our team in Allentown can keep building the M917A3 and supporting the soldiers who rely on it,” said David Hartzell, president of Mack Defense.
Trump, who had a private tour of the facility, is working to put the Iran conflict — and the higher gasoline prices it caused — in the rearview mirror as the November midterm elections draw closer.
His speech often felt more like a reelection rally from two years ago than an effort to promote his second-term accomplishments.
The president listed longstanding political grievances, and made only passing mentions of promoting Republicans ahead of Election Day — while spending more time bragging about the UFC fight he staged on the White House lawn in honor of his own 80th birthday than he did the economy.
It was Trump’s fifth second-term visit to Pennsylvania, a state whose support in 2016 and 2024 helped him to win the White House. The truck factory is in a district where incumbent Republican Rep. Ryan Mackenzie faces Democratic challenger Bob Brooks in November.
“For more than 100 years, this legendary company has been making trucks right here in eastern Pennsylvania,” Trump said, “building the heavy duty machinery that keeps our economy rolling, our factories moving, and our industries roaring all across the nation.”
Trump’s predecessor, Democrat Joe Biden, visited the same Mack Trucks facility in 2021.
In 2025, the truck facility got hit by market uncertainty, including sweeping tariffs that Trump’s administration imposed, and about 170 people were laid off, according to Mack spokesperson Kim Pupillo. She added that by the end of last year, almost 150 people were recalled to work and anyone laid off last year was given the chance to return.
There are about 2,800 workers at Mack, Pupillo said.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
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