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President Trump’s nomination of WeatherTech founder David MacNeil to the Federal Trade Commission is exactly the kind of shake-up Washington needs: a successful American entrepreneur who built a manufacturing powerhouse from the ground up. MacNeil, who Forbes reports is worth more than $4 billion, knows what it means to create jobs, pay real wages, and keep production on U.S. soil instead of shipping it overseas.
WeatherTech is not a vanity project — it’s a functioning, vertically integrated manufacturer that generates roughly $800 million in revenue and runs multiple U.S. factories, mostly in Illinois, producing the mats, pet bowls and accessories Americans trust. That hands-on, industrial know-how is precisely the kind of real-world experience the FTC sorely lacks when its experts are mostly lawyers and academics who have never run a production line.
Conservatives should applaud a nomination that prioritizes American manufacturing and consumer transparency. MacNeil has loudly pushed for stronger “made in USA” disclosures online, and putting someone in the FTC who understands the economic consequences of deceptive labeling could finally give honest American producers a fighting chance against cheap foreign knockoffs.
Predictably, the coastal elites and partisan opponents will screech about “conflicts of interest” because MacNeil owns WeatherTech outright and isn’t a career bureaucrat. Real patriots don’t demand purity tests — they demand results. Recusal rules and ethical safeguards exist, but we shouldn’t penalize a man for actually succeeding in America and daring to defend U.S. industry.
Make no mistake: MacNeil is a political donor and a Trump ally who has given millions and is a Mar-a-Lago member, so Democrats will use that as a cudgel rather than engage on substance. The better question for Senators is whether they want an FTC commissioner who understands manufacturing, wages and supply chains, or yet another regulator who knows only how to write memos. The country needs the former.
America’s future depends on rebuilding our industrial base, not surrendering it to foreign competitors whose low prices come from low standards and low wages. A commissioner who made his fortune by keeping factories and skilled labor in this country will be less likely to rubber-stamp rules that reward offshoring and consumer deception. Senate Republicans should move swiftly to confirm a nominee who stands for jobs, sovereignty, and fair competition.
