WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump welcomed Gov. Greg Abbott to the Oval Office on Friday morning to announce the opening of a South Texas call center by telecom giant Charter Communications.

The company announced the expansion last August. But that didn't stop Trump from touting the move as a result of his business-friendly policies and aggressive cheerleading for firms that shift jobs back to the United States from overseas.

Charter CEO Thomas Rutledge joined the event, and Energy Secretary Rick Perry — Abbott's predecessor in Austin — was also on hand.

The company plans to open a bilingual call center in McAllen next month with a workforce of 600. One hundred workers have already been hired.

"We're embracing a new economic model — the American model. We're going to massively eliminate job-killing regulations. That has started already, big league. Reduce government burdens and lower taxes that are crushing American business and workers all over this country," Trump said, with Abbott at his right behind his desk and Rutledge to his left.



"You're going to see thousands and thousands and thousands of jobs and companies and everything coming back into our country. They're coming in far faster than even I had projected," the president said.