CARLISLE, Pennsylvania — Jamie Dimon sat on the stage with President Donald Trump, Sen. David McCormick (R-PA), Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll, and investors. The CEO of JPMorgan Chase looked out at an auditorium filled with more than 1,500 people attending the inaugural Defense and Innovation Summit.

"God knows this is how you guys have ignited the American dream, and you've ignited security and resiliency," Dimon said to Trump. Dimon's unvarnished assessment is that of a man who understands that national strength is found in places like Pennsylvania, where laborers, investors and innovators are at the heart of creating jobs and keeping the country safe.

"You reignited that arsenal of democracy that we have in this country, and it's just critical," he told Trump in a state that the president renamed the "Money Belt" after his recent visit to Mack Trucks in Allentown.

Dimon also announced a JPMorgan Chase $24 million investment package to finance Rhoads Industries' new submarine facility and worker training programs at the Navy Yard.

Dimon's assessment captured the energy and anticipation that centered on the commonwealth's role as a tangible microcosm of a national rebirth—one that McCormick recognized and worked hard to showcase.

Dimon said he spent his morning at the historic Philadelphia Navy Yard, a place that built ships during the Revolutionary War and both World Wars before being left for dead and closed down.

Today, thanks to a rare alignment of local, federal and private initiatives, Navy Yard is roaring back to life. "You now have the ships that are going to be built there by Hanwha, a Korean company, and Rhoads Industries," Dimon shared. "They're both adding four or 500 jobs ... if they add those jobs, another 5,000 jobs will be added to support a lot of small vendors, contractors, et cetera."

Dimon echoed what Trump and McCormick emphasized and what all the energy, artificial intelligence, robotics and defense manufacturers believe: The true heart of reindustrialization belongs to the young men and women walking into America's trade schools and apprenticeship programs.

"These welders get paid while they're in their apprenticeship. They get health care while they're in apprenticeship," Dimon said. "When they graduate ... they make $80,000 a year. That is the American dream. They go on and buy a house, get married, have a family."

Dimon believes this formula must be replicated across the country, both to secure our future and to support our allies. "My hats are off. I applaud everyone in this room who's helping this effort," he concluded, looking toward the stage. "There's nothing more important for the world's safety for our children. Mr. President, thank you."

The setting for these remarks could not have a more fitting backdrop. McCormick's inaugural Defense and Innovation Summit was held at the Army War College nestled in the Cumberland Valley, just west of the Susquehanna River, surrounded by the Blue Mountain range. It is home to one of the nation's oldest military installations, a place where the foundational dust of the American Revolution settles naturally into the high-tech reality of modern defense.

For two days, military strategists, CEOs and elected leaders gathered to focus heavily on a radical transformation in AI, advanced manufacturing, data centers and investments in the defense sector.

The summit was spearheaded by McCormick, who pulled no punches about the commonwealth's rightful place in this new era.

The senator repeatedly reminded the........

© Townhall