Trump defends his sweeping tariffs and watches 'America First' drag races during Michigan stop
MILFORD, Mich. (AP) — President Donald Trump came to Michigan on Monday and argued that his economic policies have revived the auto industry and American manufacturing, even as some businesses contend that the sweeping tariffs he’s imposed have actually hurt the state.
Trump visited a sprawling General Motors facility in the Detroit suburb of Milford that is a testing ground for its vehicles. He pumped a fist after watching a trio of drag races that involved muscle cars and luxury vehicles like the Corvette Z06, Cadillac Escalade V, and EV Hummer — events the announcer promised were “all America First power.”
It was the kind of thundering speed the president is expecting at an IndyCar race in Washington next month, which is part of America’s 250th birthday celebrations.
In a subsequent speech inside a design facility, the president cheered GM's plans to expand production domestically in coming years and declared himself a president who was standing up for auto workers “at long last.”
“I’ve done more for you than your parents, OK?" he joked.
Michigan was one of the 2024 battlegrounds Trump flipped after it backed Democrat Joe Biden in 2020. But the state has seen parts of its economy affected by the president’s tariffs, including on imported cars and auto parts. Automakers have long said tariffs increase the cost of doing business, which leads to higher prices for consumers.
Company officials led Trump on a tour where he saw various GM models, including the latest versions of the Chevrolet Suburban, GMC Sierra and Chevrolet Silverado — the production of which he argued had been boosted by tariffs.
At one point, POTUS grabbed a pen and signed the hood of a white Corvette that was made specifically for America's 250th birthday.
“They’ve come a long way,” he said to reporters about the Detroit-based automaker during the tour. “It’s amazing what tariffs are doing for GM.” Trump said he’s been good to the company but he declined to say more.
“The rest of the world doesn’t love me, but that’s OK,” he said, alluding to tariffs. “It’s called ‘America first.’”
The president’s speech lasted more than an hour and was wide ranging — hitting on the economy, the war in Iran and the U.S. military operation that toppled the leader of Venezuela.
He also touched on communism, crime rates, his administration's efforts to transform the nation's capital and even how carefully he treads to keep from tripping while on stage or deplaning from Air Force One.
With early primary voting already underway, Trump called on stage Republican Reps. Lisa McClain, Tom Barrett and Tim Walberg, as well as gubernatorial candidate John James and Senate candidate Mike Rogers.
Rogers is unopposed in the Senate primary, but the GOP gubernatorial contest pits James, who is backed by Trump, against Perry Johnson, a businessman turned politician who has launched unsuccessful campaigns before, including for president in 2024.
A new round of steep import levies is taking effect on dozens of U.S. trading partners. Yet Trump has singled out Canada with tariffs as high as 50% on a wide array of its products, including cars.
The GM facility he toured is in Oakland County, which encompasses much of Detroit's northern suburbs. Once a Republican stronghold, it has increasingly leaned Democratic, backing Biden against Trump in 2020 and Vice President Kamala Harris against Trump four years later.
GM says its facility is the oldest dedicated vehicle testing operation in the United States, where 4,200 employees work to refine nearly every vehicle the company makes before they reach consumers. It has more than 150 miles of test roads and the early innovations perfected on site include the first mass-produced automatic transmission, known as the "Hydra-Matic.”
Michigan's economy relies heavily on Canada, meaning the new tariffs — coupled with inflation still running high and gas prices rising again as the already unpopular war in Iran escalates — have created additional economic concerns statewide. Some advocacy groups citing import and tariff data, says tariffs have cost Michigan businesses billions of dollars just since last spring.
The latest tariffs come at a time when voters across the country were already increasingly dissatisfied with Trump's handling of the economy.
Jason Roe, a former executive director of the Michigan Republican Party who tried unsuccessfully to distance it from Trump's “Make America Great Again” movement in 2021, said that more than coinciding with his new round of tariffs, Trump's visit is a function of Michigan's relatively late primary and is meant to ensure that James secures the nomination.
But Roe also said it was a risk for the president to tie himself too closely to top Republicans before the general election, calling it “kryptonite to November voters.”
Trump, who won the White House on a promise to lower the cost of living, also has seen his approval ratings sag, meaning kitchen table issues could be a liability for Republicans trying to hold control of Congress in the Nov. 3 elections.
“We’re happy to have the president here, campaigning with Republicans. We think it highlights the fact that the only thing they care about is Donald Trump and refuse to stand up to him," said Curtis Hertel, chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party. "It’s good for us every time the president is here because he’s incredibly unpopular.”
The Supreme Court struck down many of Trump’s sweeping tariffs, but his administration has tried to find ways around that, including by arguing that he can impose them on Canada because that country is discriminating against American exports of products including automobiles.
But Trump’s latest round of tariffs came after he voiced frustration with Canada for having retaliated and imposed its own levies on U.S. imports in response to Trump’s initial tariffs last year. Trump launched the first round after alleging Canada should do more to stop fentanyl smuggling.
In January, he visited a Ford plant in Dearborn and addressed the Detroit Economic Club, offering a defense of tariffs even as auto industry leaders blamed them for increasing the cost of doing business. The president marked his second term's first 100 days with a rally in Warren, where he mostly mentioned grievances left over from the 2024 campaign,
Monday's visit coincided with the opening of a new bridge linking Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, that was beset by tensions between the U.S. and Canadian governments.
Canada canceled a planned joint celebration for the $4.7 billion Gordie Howe International Bridge and instead held its own event after Trump announced the new Canadian tariffs.
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Superville reported from Washington.
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