By Anna Alimani
By all accounts, U.S. Steel should be preparing to enter a new golden era. A $14.9 billion deal with Nippon Steel is on the table—a deal that would secure thousands of American jobs, inject billions in capital, strengthen our supply chains, and put American steel back on top. But instead of moving forward, the company was dragged into a chaotic, self-serving proxy war waged by a fringe investment group that owns less than 1% of the company.
Ancora Holdings’ hostile campaign isn’t just unserious—it’s dangerous.
Let’s be clear: the Nippon deal is not some globalist sellout. Nippon is committed to keeping U.S. Steel headquartered in Pittsburgh. It has pledged to honor existing labor contracts. It is promising to invest up to $7 billion in U.S.-based operations and modernization. In short, this is a deal that secures American jobs, American plants, and American workers for the long haul.
Meanwhile, Ancora’s “vision” is a joke. While they finally dropped their activist proxy fight, this campaign is the latest example of the shenanigans being pulled to tank an investment from the United States’ biggest ally in the Pacific that will help save domestic manufacturing in the Rust Belt.
Let’s get into it. Ancora proposed selling off U.S. Steel’s most advanced and promising asset—Big River Steel—in a desperate bid to raise cash for short-term gimmicks like a one-time $19.25-per-share dividend. They want to replace the current CEO with their own handpicked insider, Alan Kestenbaum, and return to outdated blast furnace technology that would cripple U.S. Steel’s competitiveness in the global market. They claim they support the Nippon sale, yet are trying to install a board that would destroy the deal on day one.
You can’t have it both ways. Ancora’s slate is faking an appeal to President Trump and the America First movement, while actively undermining the very kind of pro-worker, pro-manufacturing investment this country needs. It’s all smoke and mirrors. They are playing both sides to line their pockets at the expense of real steelworkers.
Let’s not forget: Cleveland-Cliffs, the company Ancora has cozied up to, has just laid off more than 1,200 workers across Michigan and Minnesota. They’ve blamed President Trump’s tariffs—tariffs they once celebrated—for their poor performance. This is the company Ancora would rather see in control. Is that the kind of leadership U.S. Steel needs? More layoffs? More excuses? More mismanagement?
President Trump has always been about choosing strength over decay, productivity over paper-pushers. The Nippon deal isn’t some Wall Street fantasy. It’s a strategic alignment with a global powerhouse that wants to invest in America—not hollow it out. Nippon has the money, the know-how, and the respect for American labor to get it done. Ancora has none of that.
Let’s call this failed proxy battle what it is: a hostile takeover by a firm with no real plan, no track record, and no concern for the men and women on the shop floor.
The Trump Administration shouldn’t enterain any alternatives to Nippon’s proposed deal. There is no plan, just a poison pill dressed up in populist rhetoric. Reject it.
If we want U.S. Steel to rise again, we need real investment, real modernization, and real leadership. The Nippon deal is the only serious path forward. Ancora and Cleveland Cliffs are a sideshow. The administration—and every America First conservative—should treat them like one.
Anna Alimani is an economic and corporate analyst, holding a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Purdue University and an Executive MBA from Columbia Business School, specializing in Private Equity.
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