Granite City Mayor, Legislators Plead For President Trump's Help For Local Steel Plant

GRANITE CITY — President Donald Trump announced in late May 2025 a revised partnership agreement between U.S. Steel and Nippon Steel, reversing earlier opposition to the acquisition that officially closed June 18, 2025. The deal includes commitments to keep U.S. Steel’s headquarters in Pittsburgh, maintain an American CEO, and ensure a majority of U.S. citizens on the board.

Nippon Steel pledged $14 billion in U.S. investments, including $2.4 billion for facilities in Pennsylvania’s Mon Valley region.

Despite these assurances, officials and community leaders in Granite City and Illinois state legislators have raised concerns about the future of the local U.S. Steel plant. The legislators are on both a statewide and a national level.

Granite City Mayor Michael C. Parkinson has expressed frustration over the absence of clear investment plans for Granite City Works, which reopened in 2018 following President Trump’s monumental visit to the community and the steel plant, but has since ceased production.

Mayor Parkinson highlighted deteriorating coke ovens and layoffs affecting workers in Granite City. In a direct letter to President Trump, he urged the president to secure investment and job restoration for the community.

Parkinson was very respectful in his letter and understands that President Trump understands the importance of the Granite City plant after his previous visit.

These are some parts of Mayor Parkinson's direct letter to President Trump:

"My name is Michael C. Parkinson, and I am the Mayor of Granite City, Illinois. I was previously a police lieutenant and proudly assisted your Secret Service Detail for your safety while on the parade route to announce the re-opening of the Granite City Steel Plant of United States Steel on July 26, 2018.

"I cannot seem to get any answers concerning the current deal you have brokered with Nippon Steel and how that will benefit the laid-off workers here in our city. My hope, Mr. President, is that you will respond, and this attempt will not fall on a staff member with a form letter response as has been done by leaders before you.

"I read that this deal will help Mon Valley near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and that a new electric arc furnace will be built somewhere in the United States, which I think is a great thing and will create jobs, which is exactly what you promised to do when you were running for President. My concern is that I have yet to hear one word spoken by anyone as to what investment will be made here in Granite City, Illinois, and how many of my workers will be brought back to work."

Illinois state legislators Rep. Amy Elik and Sen. Erica Harriss have also appealed directly to Trump in a letter, recalling his 2018 visit to the plant and warning of ongoing job losses and potential closure. They expressed concern that public discussions of investment have omitted Granite City.

"We are Illinois state legislators who represent Granite City, Illinois, a city you visited on July 26, 2018. At that visit to U.S. Steel’s Granite City Works plant, you gained the respect and appreciation of the entire community when you said, 'For more than a century, the workers here at the Granite City mill helped build the most powerful and prosperous nation ever to exist on the face of the earth. They poured the sweat from their brows and the love from their souls to support their families.'"

Harriss and Elik continued and said: "In 2018, your visit saved Granite City from economic disaster as you showed up to support the dedicated workers and families who built Granite City Steel. As we celebrated the restart of the iron and steelmaking operations of the U.S. Steel plant in Granite City that day, we were unaware that just a few years later, the plant would shed good union jobs and face the potential for permanent closure of its operations.

"We, and the entire community, have been watching the ongoing negotiations between U.S. Steel and Nippon Steel with great concern for Granite City. While plants in other areas of the United States are often mentioned as subjects of future investment, the Granite City plant has not been mentioned publicly and we fear that it has been forgotten, and that no plans exist to invest in this plant.

"Granite City needs your help, President Trump, to gain the investment from U.S. Steel and Nippon Steel that will allow this plant to be a leader once again, making high-quality steel here in the U.S.A. Granite City remembers with pride your visit in 2018 and would welcome you back again to celebrate new investment and jobs at the Granite City Works plant."

The legislative duo closed with: "As state legislators in Illinois, we strongly urge you to help us save this Granite City plant once again. We request that you ensure that investment in Granite City be included in Nippon Steel’s future plans."

Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski of Illinois has called for at least $500 million of the $14 billion investment to be dedicated to modernizing Granite City Works, including upgrades to the granulation system and infrastructure.

“The current collective bargaining agreement requires robust investment to keep Granite City competitive worldwide," she said recently. "Given that the current proposal fails to meet those standards, it simply cannot move forward.”

Budzinski, joined by United Steelworkers leaders, highlighted the Granite City plant’s 128-year history and the challenges faced by its workforce, including layoffs and idled furnaces. She criticized the proposal for dismissing the collective bargaining agreement and excluding workers from negotiations.

“From my very first day in Congress, fighting for Granite City has remained at the top of my agenda. Let’s be clear: any deal that sidelines our community or neglects existing facilities is a nonstarter."

As the acquisition moves forward under revised terms, Granite City’s steel community remains vigilant. The invested officials hope that President Trump will reach out with assurances that investment and jobs in Granite City will be preserved amid broader changes in the American steel industry.

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