Donald Trump has said that the “theft of American prosperity has come to a screeching halt” in a speech about improving US infrastructure.

The President was speaking in Cincinnati, Ohio on improving America’s roads, bridges, and water infrastructure and how the US is “spending money all over the world except here”.

Projects will be completed using “American energy, American iron, American steel,” he noted.

The American Society of Civil Engineers gave US infrastructure in 2017 a grade of ‘D+’.

He also promised that the “steel folks will be happy” because the administration will attempt to stop other countries from “dumping” cheaper steel into the US market.

The President also mentioned failing “pumps and pipes” in water infrastructure but did not say anything about Flint, Michigan where residents have had to buy bottled water for nearly three years due to lead-contaminated municipal water from corroding pipes.

Mr Trump cited the “Panama canal, transcontinental railroad, great highway system” as large projects of a bygone era the likes of which he wants to bring back.

In pictures: Flint water crisis Show all 10 1 /10 In pictures: Flint water crisis In pictures: Flint water crisis Anthony Fordham picks up bottled water from the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan to deliver to a school after elevated lead levels were found in the city's water in Flint Reuters In pictures: Flint water crisis Michigan National Guard Staff Sergeant William Phillips (L) assists a Flint resident with bottled water at a fire station in Flint Reuters In pictures: Flint water crisis Flint residents Arthur Woodson, left, and Tony Palladino Jr. protest the arrival of Flint native and filmmaker Michael Moore as Moore accuses Gov.Rick Snyder of poisoning Flint water during a rally outside of city hall in Flint AP In pictures: Flint water crisis Flint residents pick up bottled water and water filters at a fire station in Flint. Michigan National Guard members were set to arrive in Flint to join door-to-door efforts to distribute bottled water and other supplies to residents coping with the city's crisis over lead-contaminated drinking water Reuters In pictures: Flint water crisis Soldiers from the Michigan Army National Guard Flint prepare to give Flint residents bottled water at a fire station in Flint Getty Images In pictures: Flint water crisis Justin Roberson (L), age 6, of Flint, Michigan and Mychal Adams, age 1, of Flint wait on a stack of bottled water at a rally where the Rev. Jesse Jackson was speaking about about the water crises at the Heavenly Host Baptist Church in Flint Getty Images In pictures: Flint water crisis A man sits next to a stack of bottled water at the Heavenly Host Baptist Church in Flint 2016 Getty Images In pictures: Flint water crisis The top of a water tower is seen at the Flint Water Plant. President Barack Obama declared a state of emergency in Michigan and ordered federal aid to be used to help state and local response efforts to an area affected by contaminated water Reuters In pictures: Flint water crisis Rosie Wright, center, rallies with the crowd over Flint's water crisis in Ann Arbor, Michigan AP In pictures: Flint water crisis Rick Catherman participates in a rally around Flint's water crisis in Ann Arbor, Michigan AP

He failed to note that the Panama Canal and railroad both made extensive use of slave labour in order to be completed in a timely, and cost-effective manner.

Mr Trump said there would be $1 trillion in new investment into infrastructure projects, but he did not specify what portion would come from the government and what from the private sector.

He also said a critical part of “achieving our full economic strength [is a] repeal and replace [of] Obamacare”. The President did not speak about the connection between infrastructure improvements, the economy, and Obamacare.

Democratic Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland called Mr Trump's infrastructure plan "insulting".

Speaking on a teleconference, Mr Raskin said the administration's "infrastructure plan is to infrastructure what Trump’s healthcare plan is to healthcare. It is a complete diversion from what we need to be doing it’s an abdication of public responsibility – and it’s a money making operation."