Automaker leaders in Detroit are calling President Donald Trump to thank him for enacting tariffs on mid-size and large trucks.
Trump posted on social media:
Over 30 years, Michigan has lost over 287,000 manufacturing jobs, according to data from the St. Louis Federal Reserve.
Manufacturing is returning to the United States, according to research published on August 12 from the St. Louis Federal Reserve.
Ford Motor Company and General Motors haven’t responded to a request for comment. The domestic automakers have faced stiff competition from automakers overseas including Toyota and Honda.
🚨 JUST IN: The top executives of automakers GM and Ford just SHOCKED the experts by personally calling President Trump and THANKING him for the tariffs
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) October 22, 2025
Wow — I was told these would cause a Great Depression!
“Mary Barra of General Motors, and Bill Ford of Ford Motor Company,… pic.twitter.com/QOc9dhSwf3
Michigan is known for Detroit, also known at Motor City. But the state has hemorrhaged auto jobs over the past 30 years.
Michigan’s workforce dropped from 881,900 jobs in 1999 to 594,600 jobs as of January 2025, according to data from the Federal Reserve.
The Big Three automakers in Detroit are Ford, GM, and Stellantis, which owns Jeep, RAM, Chrysler, and Dodge.
This month, Stellantis said that it will invest $13 billion in U.S. manufacturing over the next four years using plants in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan. Stellantis said it will expand U.S. production by 50 percent.
The company plans to launch five new vehicles over the next four years using plants in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan.
In August, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that Trump's tariffs will cut $4 trillion from the national deficit if continued.
The tariffs aim to incentivize automakers to manufacture vehicles in the U.S. by raising prices on foreign automakers while creating more manufacturing jobs across the Rust Belt.
Detroit put the world on wheels, but many auto manufacturing jobs have moved either overseas or to the South for warmer weather, cheaper electricity, and a better workforce.
In an October speech in Canda, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer blamed Trump's tariffs on Michigan's mediocre job creation, The Center Square reported.
“Tariffs are putting the middle class in a tough spot,” Whitmer said. “I’ve been very clear that I’m not opposed to tariffs outright, but we can’t treat them like a ‘one size fits all’ solution . . . Swinging the tariff hammer hurts us both, damaging supply chains, slowing production lines, and cutting jobs on both sides of the border.”
However, when asked what she would do differently, the governor dodged the question.
Asked how she'd handle tariffs differently than Trump, Whitmer said, "I haven't really thought about that."
— Charlie LeDuff (@Charlieleduff) April 10, 2025
In her time, our skipper lost more manufacturing jobs per capita than any governor. Even Newsome.
She gave millions to the Chinese.
Presidential material?
My eye tuck. pic.twitter.com/2Cc1zyvfUr