President-elect Donald Trump said Monday that on his first day in office, he will issue a notice that the U.S. is withdrawing from the Pacific trade deal negotiated by President Obama, calling it “a potential disaster for our country.”
“Instead we will negotiate fair, bilateral trade deals,” he said in a brief video message posted to YouTube laying out his top priorities for the beginning of his administration.
He said he will cancel Obama administration rules that limit energy production, and will order his Labor Department to investigate abuses of America’s visa programs, going after those visas that are used to undercut American workers.
And he said he’ll order security agencies to come up with a cybersecurity strategy.
Mr. Trump campaigned against the Trans Pacific Partnership and his vow to withdraw from the deal makes good on those campaign promises.
The deal, negotiated by Mr. Obama under authority from Congress, involves 12 Pacific Rim nations, but has come under fire from both sides of the aisle, who say Mr. Obama failed to win enough concessions to protect American workers.
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• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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