DETROIT -- President Donald Trump will travel to Michigan on Tuesday to promote his efforts to boost U.S.manufacturing, trying to counter fears about a weakening job market and worries that still-rising prices are taking a toll on Americans' pocketbooks.The day trip will include a tour of a Ford factory in Dearborn that makes F-150 pickups, the bestselling domestic vehicle in the U.S.
The president is also set to address the Detroit Economic Club at the MotorCity Casino.November's off-year elections in Virginia, New Jersey and elsewhere showed a shift away from Republicans as public concerns about kitchen table issues persist.In their wake, the White House said Trump would put a greater emphasis on talking directly to the public about his economic policies after doing relatively few events around the country earlier in his term.
The president has suggested that jitters about affordability are a “hoax” unnecessarily stirred by Democrats.Still, though he's imposed steep tariffs on U.S.
trading partners around the world, Trump has reduced some of them when it comes to making cars — including extending import levies on foreign-made auto parts until 2030.Ford announced last month that it was scrapping plans to make an electric F-150, despite pouring billions into broader electrification, after the Trump administration slashed targets to have half of all new vehicle sales be electric by 2030, eliminated EV tax credits and proposed weakening the emissions and gas mileage rules.His Michigan swing follows economy-focused speeches the president gave last month in Pennsylvania — where Trump's gripes about immigrants arriving to the U.S.
from “filthy” countries got more attention than his pledges to fight inflation — and North Carolina, where he insisted his tariffs have spurred the economy, despite residents noting the squeeze of higher prices.Trump carried Michigan in 2016 and 2024, after it swung Democratic and backed Joe Biden in 2020.He marked his first ...