Billionaire Trump Donor Closing U.S. Plant, Moving Jobs to China, Ripped by Employees Over Decision

One of President Trump’s earliest donors is closing a factory in Ohio and moving its operations to China, a slap in the face to the American workers he claimed to champion.

Billionaire hedge fund manager John Paulson plans to move the Con Selmer Company, the largest U.S. manufacturer of brass and orchestral instruments, from its East Lake, Ohio, plant overseas.

“We cannot allow American producers to close their factories and move them overseas,” Paulson said last year. “We have to protect American jobs and protect American industry.”

“We made a full offer, and we were ready to negotiate, but they started with an offer that tells us how bad things are for us,” said Robert Heins, president of United Auto Workers Chapter 2359 and a worker at the plant. “To go on CNBC to endorse the Trump administration’s positive views on tariffs and such, and then announce your intention to move the business to China…it’s a slap in the face.”

Paulson raised $50.5 million for Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign. Like Trump, Paulson promoted a pro-domestic worker narrative while simultaneously abandoning the workers themselves.

“This will result in a significant loss to the East Lake plant’s budget,” said Heinz. “Many people have generously donated to us in an effort to keep the plant open, but the company is showing no interest. They are not responding to our calls.”

The plant workers described the move, a major setback to Trump’s plan to bring the United States back to the forefront of manufacturing, as “a slap in the face.”

Paulson, whose net worth is estimated at $4 billion by Forbes, was one of Trump’s earliest Wall Street backers. He has served as an economic advisor to the Trump campaign since 2016 and has publicly supported him ever since, including his efforts to bring manufacturing jobs back to the United States.

More recently, he defended Trump’s plan to impose tariffs in late 2024, arguing that they were essential to preventing the United States from losing jobs to lower-wage labor overseas.

“We cannot allow American producers to close their factories and move them overseas,” Paulson told CNBC in September 2024. “We need to protect American jobs and protect American industry.”

Gordon G. Chang, a China-minded conservative and former board member of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), urged Trump to contact his longtime donor.

“After John Paulson publicly presented himself as an opponent of moving production to China, a factory in Ohio is now being moved to China,” Chang wrote. “Can you call him, Mr. President Trump?”

Others on X were even more critical of the billionaire.

Former Capitol Hill adviser Joel Lawson wrote, “He helped fool Ohio voters. Now, he’s fooling Ohio workers. It’s a perfect ‘Make America Great Again’ cycle, really.”

Another user added, “When will these Trump idiots learn that their heroes’ promises and rhetoric don’t reflect reality?”

A third wrote about the Trump supporters’ manufacturing drive, “It’s all a lie. It always has been. And these Trump idiots have fallen for it.”

One person simply said, “Trump’s donor is a hypocrite, and he’s moving jobs overseas. What a surprise!”

The union representing the soon-to-be-laid workers also sharply criticized Paulson, whose representatives did not respond to a request for comment. The White House also did not respond to an email seeking comment.

In a poignant video in which the workers pleaded with Paulson to reverse his decision, they said they were “outraged” and “betrayed,” and that the decision was “a slap in the face.” The employees nearly broke down in tears as they spoke about losing their jobs to China, something Paulson claims to oppose.

“Does moving our jobs to China protect American jobs?” one worker asks in the video.

Another says, “This is pure hypocrisy. We’re going to lose everything because of this.”