Trump Jobs Plan: Charter Promises Jobs It Already Pledged To Create Under Obama

Charter CEO Tom Rutledge met with President Donald Trump Friday. During his White House visit, the cable company head promised to "invest $25 billion in broadband infrastructure and technology in the next four years."

President Trump thanked Rutledge in a tweet, in which the President proclaimed, “Today, I was thrilled to announce a commitment of $25 BILLION & 20K AMERICAN JOBS over the next 4 years. THANK YOU Charter Communications!”

Read: Report Indicates Verizon Is Looking To Buy Charter

There is a catch to Rutledge’s pledge: it’s not the first time he made it. Charter was already planning to expand its broadband infrastructure, including delivering its service two million new customers.

Making its high-speed internet offering available to two million new customers was part of a mandate from the Federal Communications Commission that was put in place when it approved Charter’s purchase of Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks.

The merger of the major internet and cable providers, approved under the Barack Obama administration and the FCC led by Obama appointee Tom Wheeler, required Charter to expand its service within five years of the merger’s approval, as well as up its broadband download speeds to at least 60 Mbps.

Rutledge’s promise of 20,000 new jobs in the U.S. also came before Trump ever took office. Charter made the same pledge when it began seeking approval of its purchase of Time Warner Cable back in 2015.

The cable CEO also claimed during his visit with Trump that the company would move “all of the former Time Warner Cable customer service calls” from offshore to the United States. That too was promised when Charter announced its intentions to merge with Time Warner Cable in May 2015.

Read: FCC Planning To End Competition Requirement For Charter

The spending and expansion promised by Charter does not appear to be tied directly to any policy change expected under the Trump administration. It also does not appear to be any different than the company’s existing commitments made under the Obama administration.

In a statement following Rutledge’s visit, FCC chairman Ajit Pai said, “I’m pleased to see that our investment-friendly policies, along with the Administration’s overall regulatory approach, are already producing results.”