For the second time since taking office, President Donald Trump traveled to Pittsburgh earlier this month to shore up an alliance of politicians and corporate and union leaders, as well as educational institutions, to support his agenda of “America First” economic nationalism and war.

Speaking at what was billed as an energy summit at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), Trump again outlined his program of reorganizing the American economy in preparation for war, primarily with China.

In an almost incoherent speech that has become his style, moving from one topic to another without any connection, Trump repeatedly returned to the point that America had to beat China in the AI race, and that this required a vast increase in energy production and data centers. In line with this war drive, he touted his tariffs, which have been levied on both friend and foe.

He began his remarks by stating that NATO will pay for American missiles and ammunition to Ukraine. Trump has long complained that NATO members have not done their part to contribute to the alliance’s military defense. He lauded his Environmental Protection Agency head Lee Zeldin, who will fast-track permits for new electric plants running on coal, gas and nuclear power.

He mentioned that he spoke with fellow oligarchs Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos and suggested that they build their own private electric grids to train ever more powerful AI systems. Zuckerberg’s Meta has recently launched a “Superintelligence Lab” with the aim of creating an AI model whose capabilities far outpace those of human beings, known as an ASI (artificial superintelligence).

It is worth noting that Trump forced the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission to reduce regulations and fast-track new licenses for nuclear power plants.

His primary focus was competing with China’s increasing electric generation, which is mostly from coal. He also touted the tax cuts in his “Big Beautiful Bill.” He said the US must be the “world’s number one superpower in artificial intelligence.”

Corporate leaders attending including Ruth Porat, president and chief investment officer of Alphabet, Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, Jon Gray, president and chief operating officer of Blackstone, Jake Loosararian, founder and CEO of Gecko Robotics, Toby Rice, president and CEO of EQT, Matt Garman, CEO of Amazon Web Services, and many others.

In a fawning way, they all hailed Trump and “his vision,” and pledged their support.

CMU President Farnam Jahanian praised both Trump and Senator McCormick for their energy policy, which rejects all science on global warming and is instead based solely on preparing the United States for war. “Our national security depends upon it,” Jahanian said.

More important than what he said was what he did not say. Jahanian made no mention of the ongoing assault on higher education and free speech by the Trump administration, nor his fascist agenda, including building concentration camps to house undocumented workers.

Jahanian did not speak of the protests at CMU against Trump’s visit, including the fact that over 1,500 faculty signed a letter in opposition. CMU took down signs opposing Trump’s visit and Pittsburgh and CMU police fired tear gas and attacked students who were peacefully protesting his arrival.

Notably in attendance was Brandon Bishop, secretary-treasurer of the North American Building Trades Unions, which has 3 million members.

Bishop stated that workers are “ready to deliver” on corporate investments and that the union will ensure “labor certainty.” In other words, it will suppress strike action. He ended his remarks with a willingness to partner with Trump.

A long line of union officials have been lining up behind Trump’s nationalist program, including Sean O’Brien, president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Shawn Fain, president of the United Auto Workers (UAW), and Harold Daggett, president of the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA), to name a few.

Last month, Trump came to Pittsburgh to announce that he was approving the purchase of US Steel by Japanese steelmaker Nippon Steel, in part to win over the United Steelworkers bureaucracy.

Worker safety will, of course, not be a priority of Trump or the union bureaucrats, who will try to ramp up production in preparation for war against China.

Democratic Party politicians were present to show their fealty as well. Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro said that he was proud to be part of the summit and that he was working hard to expand energy production and make the permitting process as quick and easy as possible.

Republican Senator McCormick, who organized the conference, had dinner with Democratic Senator John Fetterman, who said he was completely behind Trump’s energy program, which Trump describes as “Drill baby, drill.”

Fetterman was promoted within the Democratic Party as part of its falsely named “progressive wing.” He started his political career as mayor of Braddock, Pennsylvania, an impoverished mill town just south of Pittsburgh and home to one of US Steel’s three remaining mills in the area. He made a name for himself by demolishing abandoned and boarded-up buildings and setting up community gardens.

He was later elected lieutenant governor and served from 2019 to 2023. While COVID-19 was ravaging the state, he made his primary focus legalizing marijuana.

He was elected to the US Senate in 2022. As a senator, Fetterman has made a name for himself for vociferously defending Israel during its genocide in Gaza and attacking those opposed to the genocide. In November 2023, he famously taunted protesters being arrested by waving an Israeli flag in front of them. Following the election of Trump, Fetterman made his pilgrimage to Mar-a-Lago to align himself with the new would-be king.

In the lead-up to the summit the World Socialist Web Site wrote:

The decision by the Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) administration to host President Trump for an “Energy and Innovation” conference on July 15 lends credibility to Trump’s attacks on universities, students and science as he extends his efforts to establish a dictatorship in America.

By hosting Trump, the CMU administration is ingratiating itself to the would-be dictator and declaring its fealty.