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A $10 billion national defense renaissance championed by the Trump administration will rely on Pennsylvania's skilled workers to build "the arsenal of freedom."
That lineup includes welders, electricians, ship builders, munitions and vehicle manufacturers, university researchers, space robotics engineers and cyber security professionals, among many others.
All, in large part, trades that Republican U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick opined once feared an uncertain future amid the rise of artificial intelligence.
"So ironically, at this moment where AI is creating this anxiety about job disruption, it's actually creating also this huge demand for people who build things," McCormick said during a defense industry summit he organized in Cumberland County. "And that's for not just data centers, it's for all the infrastructure, steel and pharmaceuticals, and all the things that we need for the future."
The sentiment echoed throughout the two-day conference, which heralded industry investment totaling nearly $10 billion, and concluded with President Donald Trump's keynote speech, where he described the worker pool across the state as nothing short of a "miracle."
"Pennsylvania workers will build the ships, submarines, trucks, weapons and industries that will ensure America remains the strongest and most powerful nation in the history of the world," he said.
First-term Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro, who just hours earlier shared the same sentiment with McCormick and defense contractor CEOs, didn't factor into Trump's vision, however.
"This guy Shapiro is totally overrated," Trump said. "I watched him the other night doing a speech and he does not have what it takes."
Shapiro, running for reelection against Republican state Treasurer Stacy Garrity in November, has commanded a double-digit lead in polling over the last year, including a Wednesday release from Quinnipiac University that found him 13 percentage points ahead.
The lead, although comfortable, is down roughly five points from where it was in February.
It wouldn't be the first time Garrity unseated an incumbent Democrat. Her rise to statewide office in 2020 came after she defeated Treasurer Joe Torsella by roughly 53,000 votes -- the first Republican to do so in nearly three decades.
During Garrity's successful bid for reelection in 2024, she broke a Pennsylvania record for most votes received in a statewide election, which was previously held by Shapiro in his 2022 gubernatorial victory.
And this time, Garrity has Trump's backing, who appeared with her at a Mar-a-Lago fundraiser in Palm Beach, Fla., on March 30. Calling herself a "strong ally," Garrity touted that hers was among the first campaigns the president endorsed this year.
"Maybe he'll win, and he's expected to win, but I hear things about Stacy, and I'm hearing some poll numbers that are very good," Trump said on Wednesday.