A billionaire donor of President Donald Trump has been slammed as a “hypocrite” after it was revealed he plans to close an Ohio plant and move manufacturing to China.
John Paulson, 70, is offshoring a factory for his company Conn Selmer—the largest United States-based manufacturer of brass and orchestra instruments—across the Pacific, eliminating 150 American jobs in the process, says the United Auto Workers Local 2359.
Workers at the plant have called the move, which is a major setback for Trump’s agenda to make the United States a manufacturing powerhouse again, “a slap in our face.”
Paulson, who Forbes writes is worth $4 billion, is among Trump’s first Wall Street backers. He was an economic adviser to the Trump campaign as early as 2016 and has publicly supported Trump ever since—including his push to bring manufacturing jobs back to the United States.
More recently, he championed Trump’s plan to impose tariffs in late 2024 and argued that they were key to preventing the United States from losing jobs to lower-wage labor overseas.
“We can’t have American producers closing American factories and offshoring,” Paulson told CNBC in September 2024. “We need to protect American jobs and protect American manufacturing.”
Now, Paulson is doing exactly what he argued against—and he is being brutally called out for it.
Gordon G. Chang, a conservative China hawk who has served on CPAC’s board, urged Trump to give his longtime donor a call.
“John Paulson, after publicly presenting himself as an opponent of offshoring to China, is now offshoring an Ohio plant to China,” Chang wrote. “President Trump, could you give him a call?”
Others on X were harsher on the billionaire.
The former Capitol Hill consultant Joel Lawson wrote, “He helped sucker Ohio voters. Now, he’s making a sucker out of Ohio workers. Perfect MAGA cycle, really.”
Another user added, “When will the MAGA dumba–es learn that what their heroes promise & what they hear is not what happens!”
A third wrote of the MAGA manufacturing push, “It’s all a lie. It always was. And the MAGA fools fell for it.”
One said simply, “Trump donor is a hypocrite and is moving jobs offshore. Shocker.”
The union representing the soon-to-be-fired workers also had harsh words for Pauslon, whose representatives did not respond to a request for comment. The White House also did not respond to an email seeking comment.
In an emotional video pleading for Paulson to reverse his decision, workers said they were “pissed off,” “betrayed,” and that the decision was a “kick in the groin.” Employees held back tears as they spoke about losing their jobs to China—something Pualson claims to be against.
“Is sending our work to China protecting American jobs?” a worker says in the clip.
Another says, “This is 100 percent hypocritical. We’re going to lose like everything just because of this.”
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