GARY, Ind. (WLS) — Leaders in Northwest Indiana reacted Friday after President Joe Biden decided to block Japan’s Nippon Steel from acquiring U.S. Steel.

The U.S. Steel smokestacks along the lakefront are a prominent landmark for the city of Gary. The company, with its more than century-long history in Gary, is the city’s largest employer with nearly 5,000 jobs.

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Gary Mayor Eddie Melton has been a big supporter of the proposed $15 billion merger between U.S. Steel and Japan’s Nippon Steel.

“Gary has seen a significant downturn over the last 50 years,” Melton said. “As we are constantly rebuilding from within, we couldn’t risk losing one of our largest employers.”

The Gary mayor said during a visit last month, Nippon executives promised a $1 billion investment in the Gary plant, replacing the four blast furnaces over the next ten years. However, union leaders support President Biden’s decision to block the deal, citing concerns about the long term stability of the steel industry.

“The president took action to block the deal so U.S. Steel remains a proud American company, American-owned, American-operated by American Union steel workers and the best in the world,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.

Northwest Indiana congressman Frank Mrvan also agrees, saying in a statement, “It is absolutely right to prevent a foreign company with proven trade abuses from controlling our domestic steel production.”

The companies, however, are vowing to fight the President’s decision, saying, “Blocking this transaction means denying billions of committed investment to extend the life of U.S. Steel’s aging facilities and putting thousands of good-paying, family-sustaining union jobs at risk. In short, we believe that President Biden has sacrificed the future of American steelworkers for his own political agenda.”

Gary’s mayor agrees.

“Yesterday we had a potential deal in hand. Today we have nothing,” Melton said. “So it’s uncertain what the future’s gonna be.”

A White House spokesperson said the president’s decision has nothing to do with Japan, a close ally of the United States.

In the meantime, a spokesperson for U.S. Steel says they do intend to pursue their legal options, but it’s unclear exactly what that means.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana resumed Big Ten play with a step in the right direction, defeating Rutgers 84-74 Thursday night at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.

Coach Mike Woodson found contributions all over his roster, led by Myles Rice with 21 points. Oumar Ballo returned to action and scored 17 points, followed by Mackenzie Mgbako with 16, Trey Galloway with 11 and Luke Goode with nine. The Hoosiers improved to 11-3 overall and 2-1 in Big Ten play ahead of Sunday’s game against Penn State at the Palestra in Philadelphia, Penn.

Here’s the full transcript of Woodson’s postgame press conference.

On Oumar Ballo’s play…

Woodson: “I thought he played great. He’s a big part of our team winning tonight. He had 17 and three rebounds, a few blocked shots, plugged the hole up for us like he’s supposed to so I thought he played well.”

On his thoughts on Rutgers guard Ace Bailey, who scored 39 points…

Woodson: “He’s special. He’s a good player and he’s young. If he continues to work, he could be pretty special. I mean, we kind of threw a few things at him, but he made some tough shots tonight and that’s what great players do.”

On if Ballo coming off the bench was for disciplinary or injury-related reasons…

Woodson: “Let’s just talk about his 17 and 12. That’s what I like to focus in on. He came off the bench and he got 17 and 12 for us and two blocks, which is fantastic.”

On Malik Reneau leaving with an injury and how his team adapted…

Woodson: “Well, right now, we just got to evaluate him tomorrow. He couldn’t come back in the game and you know he’s a big piece to the puzzle. Going into this game, he was our leading scorer, so we’ll evaluate him tomorrow through our medical staff and see where he is and if he can’t play, it’s next man up. We just got to continue to go whoever is in uniform.”

On Indiana’s improved 3-point shooting…

Woodson: “Guys stepped up, they made ’em, which was kind of nice to see. That’s probably the most threes we’ve made this season so far and I just hope it continues to be a carryover because I thought in the Winthrop game we got some good looks, we just didn’t make them. Tonight, guys stepped up and they knocked them down which we’re going to need moving forward.”

On Indiana’s 34 second-chance points and 18 offensive rebounds…

Woodson: “Well, I think the fact that they played a lot of zones. It’s kind of hard to block out in zone situations. We were able to sneak guys in and get put-backs or kick it back out for threes. That’s just how it goes when you play zone. You gamble because you do have to rebound out of the zone in order to get down the floor and play offense and we were able to capitalize on it a little bit.”

On if Indiana did anything different in practice after making just one three in its last game…

Woodson: “No, like I told you guys, I mean, as a coach, every time they shoot it, I think it’s going in, especially if you got the right guy shooting it and we did in our last game. You had Gallo shooting some and Goode and Mac. They just didn’t knock them down and tonight they had some of those same looks and they put it in the hole which is kind of nice to see.”

On Anthony Leal’s defense against Ace Bailey and if he expected that matchup…

Woodson: “No, Anthony is one of our best defenders and when I got to go to someone off the bench to guard a key guy, because I thought in that one stretch right before the half, I think he only scored one point against Anthony. He had done all his damage early and… but again, he’s a hell of a player. He did a lot of good things for his ball club tonight.”

On if this game was Indiana’s best in terms of its depth top to bottom…

Woodson: “I think so but we got a long way to go. I got to help our bench more somehow. I just got to get them comfortable having fun and flying around and doing things on both ends of the floor that we’re supposed to do and we’re not there yet.”