Charter Chairman and CEO Tom Rutledge held a press briefing today with Donald Trump, tying previously announced employee insourcing and broadband infrastructure deployment plans to the president’s nationalist agenda.
“Five years ago Charter Communications was a struggling company that had slowly emerged from bankruptcy,” said Trump, sitting alongside Rutledge during today’s Oval Office press briefing. “Today, thanks to hard work and unbelievable leadership—truly great leadership—it’s the fastest growing television, internet and voice company in the nation.
“Tom Rutledge and his team turned the company around and they did it very quickly,” Trump added. “They created a culture of customer service and excellence. And most importantly, they brought back many jobs that had been shipped overseas.”
Trump lauded Charter’s previously announced plans to insource 20,000 overseas call center jobs back into the U.S.
“We’re embracing a new economic model, an American model,” said Trump, whose approval rating has plummeted to 37% according to a Gallup poll released this week.
Said Rutledge: “Using high-skilled, high-quality American workers saves money. … They get the job done right the first time.”
And with Trump signaling an era of corporate tax breaks and deregulation, Charter also committed to a $25 billion investment into broadband infrastructure and technology over the next four years. Charter had previously committed to such investments as part of federal approvals for its acquisitions of Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks.
“We’re going to massively eliminate job killing regulations. That has started already, big league,” Trump added.
Rutledge said all of the call centers operated overseas will be shifted to the U.S. Charter also used the press op to announce a new call center in the South Texas town of McAllen which it said will house 600 jobs.
“Charter … follows … Exxon, Intel, Lockheed, Boeing and many others that have recently announced millions of dollars of investments and thousands of jobs coming to the United States following my election victory,” Trump said.
“Have you been to McAllen?” he asked Rutledge. “It’s nice.”