Returning to Warren for the first time since the 2024 campaign season, President Donald Trump rallied his supporters at Macomb Community College in celebration of his first 100 days in office, recapping his administration’s efforts on immigration, energy and manufacturing.
Taking the stage Tuesday evening, Trump wasted no time in continuing to push his disproven claim that the 2020 election had been stolen, telling the audience he’d actually won the state three times while recounting his past victories in Michigan despite losing the state to former President Joe Biden in 2020 by more than 154,000 votes.
Although several banners hung throughout the university’s sports and expo center, reflecting Trump’s campaign promises to bring back American jobs and usher in a “golden age” of American manufacturing, the President spent much of his speech talking about his administration’s efforts on immigration, criticizing his political opponents and recapping his work on other campaign promises.
However Trump told attendees to expect a surge in auto jobs, crediting his tax and tariff policies, though auto industry advocates have expressed concern about the policies.
In February, Ford CEO Jim Farley warned that Trump’s 25% tariff on goods imported from neighboring Mexico and Canada threatened to “blow a hole” in the U.S. auto industry, according to a report from Reuters.
Sandy Baruah, president and CEO of the Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce has also warned that the president’s tariffs would significantly harm Detroit-area businesses with 234,000 jobs in the region relying on trade and investment with Canada.
However, the President pointed to a recent executive order he’d signed offering automakers credits for up to 15% the value of vehicles assembled in the United States to offset the value of imported parts, saying the effort would help automakers bring factories back to the U.S. as quickly as possible.
Glenn Stevens Jr., executive director of the auto industry advocacy group MichAuto, applauded the decision alongside another order making changes to how the levies would be enforced to prevent multiple tariffs from being charged on foreign-made vehicles.
“As MichAuto has advocated since these tariffs were first announced and communicated in our March 31 letter to the Trump administration, the automotive and mobility industry needs clear lines of sight on costs and reliable supply chains to remain globally competitive. Relief from these stacked duties would offer some of that much-needed clarity and help preserve the industry’s global competitiveness at a time of critical transition and investment,” Stevens said in a statement.
“MichAuto continues to believe that an ideal outcome is an accelerated renegotiation of the [United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement] to further position America and our North American strategic partners as strong competitors to China and its violations of intellectual property, over-capacity, and unfair trade practices,” he said.
Ahead of the rally, Trump touched down at Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Harrison Twp., where he announced a new fighter mission of 21 F-15EX fighter jets to base at Selfridge. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer called it a “huge bipartisan win for Michigan, decades in the making.”
“Since day one, I’ve been laser-focused on securing a new fighter mission at Selfridge and supporting the brave service members who step up for our communities every day,” Whitmer said in a statement. “I appreciate the President’s partnership on this new fighter mission that will protect jobs and show the world that Michigan is the best place to pioneer the next innovations in national defense.”
Trump’s visit also follows the introduction of seven articles of impeachment from U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-Detroit) who told the Michigan Advance Tuesday he wanted to introduce the resolution a day before the President comes to Michigan and “[Tells] us more lies about his 100 days of accomplishments.”
Thanedar’s office also unveiled four billboards in the Metro Detroit area calling for Trump’s impeachment ahead of the visit.
“I had the television way down and I said to our great First Lady, ‘Listen, did I just hear is being impeached again?’ We’re getting good at this though,” said Trump, after mistakenly stating that Rep. John James (R-Shelby Twp.) was the one who brought the articles.
Trump was impeached twice during his first administration, but was not convicted by the Senate in either case.
“They’ve gone totally crazy, these people. And you know what? They’ve totally lost their confidence. They can’t even tell a lunatic like this dumb guy that said it. And then you have the other one that’s always with the cane. He’s always impeaching,” Trump said, referring to U.S. Rep. Al Green (D-Texas), who in February announced he would bring articles of impeachment against the president.
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Author: Kyle Davidson
All or part of an article originally published on Michigan Advance was used here, with permission, under a Creative Commons License. Third-Party Content Disclaimer
