As President Donald Trump makes a pitch Wednesday for a federal tax overhaul, he plans to cast the city of St. Charles as an example of the “Main Street economy’’ he wants to help flourish across the country.
That’s the word from senior White House officials, who briefed regional reporters ahead of time on Trump’s key topics during an address Wednesday afternoon at the St. Charles Convention Center.
Trump also is expected to highlight several St. Charles businesses, including Cassandra Erin Studio, which is situated along the community’s historic riverfront. The studio designs and creates custom jewelry sold on-site and at roughly 30 high-end stores across the country.
Owner Cassandra Portier is thrilled by the presidential attention.
“Anytime the president of the United States is going to give you a shout-out, we’re in,” she said Tuesday.
Portier and her mother, Teri Sallee, are slated to be among the 1,000 people who have been invited to hear the president’s remarks.
The audience is expected to include Missouri Treasurer Eric Schmitt, St. Charles County Executive Steve Ehlmann and many of the state’s seven GOP members of Congress. The latter may include Sen. Roy Blunt, although the White House expects the senator may have to skip the trip if the U.S. Senate takes up its version of the tax overhaul.
None of Missouri’s Democratic members of Congress were invited, the White House officials said. That includes U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, who the officials said Trump is expected to mention in his speech.
The president is to be accompanied by U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and Small Business Administration chief Linda McMahon.
St. Charles County is more prosperous, and less diverse, than many of its counterparts in the state and nationally. St. Charles County long has been the fastest-growing county in Missouri. It also is solidly Republican, and delivered Missouri’s second-largest bloc of GOP votes in the November 2016 election – which Trump won handily.
The county has been becoming more racially diverse, as it possesses the fastest-growing population of Latinos in Missouri.
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