Nathan Bomey

USA TODAY

Donald Trump will get his chance to be the "the greatest jobs president that God ever created," as he promised during the campaign, but his path to employment supremacy is shrouded in uncertainty.

The Republican real estate baron and reality TV star's ascension to the White House caps a campaign that featured his pledge to spark a massive increase in employment and to lure manufacturing jobs back from overseas. He struck a chord with working-class white voters who flocked to the polls to back him.

"Our thesis this year was, 'angry' is the new hope — largely on the idea that the lack of economic growth was generating anger among the voters themselves," said Dan Clifton, head of policy research for market research firm Strategas. "What we're seeing is a great degree of political volatility that has stemmed from this economic volatility."

Donald Trump: I will be the greatest jobs president God ever created

Trump's promises to punish American companies for outsourcing work, slap tariffs on certain foreign goods and renegotiate free-trade agreements were among his principal objectives.

Whether those proposals will spark job growth — and whether they're achievable at all — is debatable.

Gary Burtless, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, said raising tariffs on imports from countries such as China and Japan could temporarily boost U.S. jobs.

But in the long run, "are these policies going to frighten business leaders and investors about the wisdom of U.S. policymaking?" Burtless asked in an interview.

The best bet to spark quick job growth might be a bipartisan deal on infrastructure investment, Burtless said. That could include roads, bridges and water pipelines — areas in which the presidential contenders shared some common ground.

"We are currently in a phase where public investment in infrastructure has been declining," Burtless said. "If you think the country really does have a lot of underemployment, it does seem a strange time to scale back infrastructure."

Trump's economic advisers floated a proposal last month that would provide tax credits to investors who acquire infrastructure bonds, arguing that $167 billion in private investments could spark $1 trillion in infrastructure investment.

"Overall, you’ll start to see this infrastructure theme build," Clifton said.

Josh Bivens, director of research and policy for the Economic Policy Institute, said infrastructure spending could help.

"In the campaign, Trump spoke (vaguely) about wanting to spend on infrastructure, so that would, all else equal, boost growth and job creation," Bivens said in an email. "If he pays for this infrastructure boost by gutting spending elsewhere, he’ll ruin the job creation impact, however."

Although infrastructure spending might help at home, it won't bring back any jobs from overseas.

One pragmatic way to fight back against globalization is to bolster education of highly skilled workers at home. The USA is trailing on that front.

In India, growth in the number of people with "higher skills" is projected at 14.6% from 2015 through 2020, compared with 11.2% for the USA during that period, according to market research firm Euromonitor International.

Most of Trump's rhetoric has been aimed squarely at the impact of trade on the U.S. economy.

During the campaign, Trump decried the North American Free Trade Agreement that hastens economic activity between the USA, Mexico and Canada. He blasted companies such as Dearborn, Mich.-based automaker Ford Motor for launching plants in Mexico.

Any concerted effort to block foreign trade could trip up the economy, economists said.

Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM) President Scott Paul called on Washington to bolster infrastructure and implement stronger trade enforcement on China. He said he wants to crack down on countries that try to circumvent U.S. trade laws.

"Factory workers were more than a prop in this election," Paul said in a statement. "Now's the time to deliver for them."

One particularly divisive area is energy. Trump's administration is more likely than President Obama's to authorize controversial oil and gas pipelines, lift clean-air regulations on coal mining and allow offshore drilling.

Clifton identified 25 energy infrastructure projects "that are shut down now due to concerns about permitting."

"These are blue-collar workers that have been shut out of energy infrastructure projects," he said. "This is a very good opportunity right away for Donald Trump to lift those regulations and get those projects moving."

That could rankle environmental activists by accelerating the pace of climate change.

Burtless said that could have long-term consequences, and he questioned whether pipeline projects in particular would grow jobs significantly.

Follow USA TODAY reporter Nathan Bomey on Twitter @NathanBomey.