The Workers Trump Refuses to Acknowledge #Politics #CleanEnergy

12 May 2026 · 1 min

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In this brief commentary, TJ Walker argues that former President Donald Trump operates with a 1970s‑style mental map of who qualifies as a "real" American worker, limiting his view to wealthy financiers and traditional coal miners. Walker points out that this narrow perspective completely omits modern clean‑energy occupations such as solar installers, wind technicians, and battery engineers. He highlights that 39,000 clean‑energy jobs were lost in 2025, emphasizing that these workers are invisible in Trump’s economic imagination, and warns that the nation suffers under a president whose worldview is rooted in outdated, fossil‑fuel‑centric thinking.

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Donald Trump has a 1970s mental map of who counts as a real American worker. In his mind, there are only two respectable men in this economy. Number one, a billionaire in a suit closing deals at Goldman Sachs. Number two, a coal miner covered in soot. That's the complete list. There is no solar installer in Ohio, no wind technician in Iowa, no battery engineer in Michigan. The 39,000 people who lost clean energy jobs in 2025 alone do not exist in Trump's imagination, and we're all paying the price for a president whose entire economic worldview fits on a bumper sticker from a car that runs on leaded gasoline. Ultimize.