WARREN, Mich.—Former President Donald Trump vowed to “reclaim America’s manufacturing power,” during a pair of events in the key battleground state of Michigan.
The Republican presidential nominee spoke to thousands of autoworkers at two separate campaign stops on Sept. 27: a rally in Walker, Michigan, near Grand Rapids, followed by a town hall across the state in the Detroit suburb of Warren. At both events, Trump repeated past pledges to implement policies that would boost manufacturing and secure American jobs if he wins reelection on Nov. 5.
“I want German car companies to be American car companies. I want them to build their cars in this country, not in Germany,” Trump said at the Walker rally. “I want Asian electronics companies to become Michigan electronics companies.
“I want every manufacturer that has left us to be filled with regret.”
To achieve this, Trump said he would impose tariffs on foreign imports and provide companies producing in the United States with the lowest energy costs, taxes, and regulatory burdens possible.
Ahead of Trump’s visit, Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris criticized Trump’s 2020 trade deal with Mexico and Canada, saying it facilitated the transfer of U.S. auto jobs to Mexico.
“American workers deserve a leader who keeps their promises and stands with workers when it matters, and as president, I will bring autoworker jobs back to this country and create an opportunity economy that strengthens manufacturing, unions, and builds prosperity and security for America’s future,” Harris stated in a social media post on X on Sept. 26, adding in another post, “I will always stand with the UAW.”
In late July, UAW President Shawn Fain announced that the influential, 370,000-member union was endorsing Harris. Shortly after, the UAW accused Trump and his ally, X CEO Elon Musk, of unfair labor practices. The accusation followed a Musk–Trump public “Spaces” conversation that, among the topics explored, addressed Musk’s firing of some of his staff at the social media company. The National Labor Relations Board is investigating that action by Musk.
During the presidential debate, Harris highlighted American-made cars as one of the components needed to build a “green energy economy.” The Biden administration has imposed strict auto emissions standards to accelerate the auto industry’s transition to electric vehicles.
Neither Trump nor Harris earned the endorsement of another large labor union, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. The union released internal polling on Sept. 23 showing that 58 percent of its members support Trump for president.
As of Sept. 27, Harris was holding a 1.8 percent advantage over Trump in Michigan, according to the RealClearPolitics average of opinion polls. That lead is within the margin of error for most polls, so the race is considered a statistical tie.
On Sept. 27, more than 5,000 people filled the Macomb Community College fieldhouse in Warren, Michigan, for the former president’s visit.
About one-third of the attendees at Trump’s campaign event were autoworkers, based on a show of hands at the request of town hall moderator Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.).
In Macomb County, home to about 886,000 people, Ford and General Motors are among the biggest employers. About 65,000 workers are employed in manufacturing jobs, a county website says.
Five people from the audience each asked Trump a question.
A young man named Nico from Plymouth, Michigan, said he had just been laid off from his job at Detroit Diesel, where he worked as an assembler. He wanted to know how Trump would stop the influx of illegal immigrants who are “hurting American workers.”
Trump told the young man that if he regains the White House, he will resume his wall-building project. During his presidential term, Trump built at least 450 miles of barriers along the U.S.–Mexico border. President Joe Biden halted the border wall construction upon taking office in January 2021.
Stemming the tide of illegal immigration will help prevent them from competing for Americans’ jobs, Trump said.
Harris, during a visit to the border in Arizona on Sept. 27, vowed to implement stricter border policies, including bringing more serious criminal charges against people who repeatedly cross the border illegally and requiring asylum claims to be made only at ports of entry.
Another audience member at the town hall, Misti Robinette, 50, said she is a single mother of five children who has been building Ford Broncos and Rangers for 25 years.
As she stood onstage near the former president, she told him face-to-face: “If I’m gonna be honest with you, I was not ‘for’ you in the beginning. But my son told me I sounded ignorant, and I needed to educate myself on you.”
And after researching Trump, Robinette said, she became one of his voters.
Robinette later told The Epoch Times that she had been told over and over that because she was a union worker, she needed to be a Democrat. She said she was now making up her own mind on who she thinks is best at leading her country.
Trump also addressed the Biden administration’s auto emissions rule, saying it hurts the American auto industry and affects consumers’ choices. He reiterated his past promise to scrap the rule if he’s reelected.
“Not everybody should have an electric car,” Trump said. “You’ve got to have alternatives and choices. That’s what the country is all about.”
An autoworker named Todd from Shelby, Michigan, lamented that 2,000 people are being laid off from his manufacturing plant within the next few weeks. He blames the current administration’s policies.
On a lighter note, he asked Trump to name his favorite American vehicles, which prompted the former president to recall his father Fred Trump.
“My father was a great guy, I learned so much from him, and he loved Cadillac. His biggest luxury in life was to get a brand new, dark blue Cadillac every two years,” Trump said. “My father liked Cadillacs, so that’s good enough for me.”
