Trump touts tariffs in midterm pitch to Michigan GM workers

Michigan is ground zero for some of Trump's trade policies, with an auto industry that has had to rethink supply chains and investment plans as Trump imposed sweeping tariffs. Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

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President Donald Trump championed his economic agenda, including tariffs and the rolling back of environmental regulations, saying they had revived United States auto manufacturing during a visit to a General Motors Co. facility in the midterm battleground of Michigan.

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Trump spoke at a GM facility in Milford in suburban Detroit’s Oakland County, home to blue-collar workers who have been a receptive audience for the president’s populist economic pitch — and will be critical to Republican hopes of keeping control of Congress in November.

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His trip unfolded week before primary elections that will determine the candidates in a fiercely contested Senate race in the state.

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The president said he was “very proud” of GM, praising chief executive Mary Barra and President Mark Reuss for moving some production back from Mexico.

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“They’re coming back home because, frankly, when they build here, there’s no tariff. It’s really not complicated. A lot of people don’t understand that,” Trump said. “Mary understood it. Her whole group understood it, and they’re coming back home where they belong.”

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Trump also touted moves to weaken fuel economy and emissions standards from tougher Biden administration mandates and changes he said would make it easier for Detroit to build small cars. And he jabbed at Shawn Fain, the president of the United Auto Workers union, who backed Kamala Harris in the 2024 election.

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“You wouldn’t have an auto industry right now if they got elected,” Trump said.

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The president has highlighted manufacturing jobs as crucial for workers and the economy, even as polls show the public frustrated with high costs of living and with his war on Iran, which has driven up gasoline prices. Democrats have sought to make the upcoming midterms a referendum on Trump’s economic leadership.

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Michigan is poised to play a critical role in that struggle. The state has emerged as a key testing ground for Democrats as the party debates what direction to take in the midterms and the 2028 presidential race, with moderate House Representative Haley Stevens and progressive candidate Abdul El-Sayed locked in a combative contest.

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A recent poll showed Stevens leading. The winner of the Democratic primary will likely face Republican Mike Rogers, a former congressman who narrowly lost a 2024 Senate race to Elissa Slotkin. Trump has endorsed Rogers, who along with other Michigan GOP candidates joined the president onstage to deliver brief remarks.

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Trump has stepped up his campaigning in recent weeks in an effort to amplify his economic message. Michigan is in many ways ground zero for some of those policies, with an auto industry that has had to rethink supply chains and investment plans as Trump imposed sweeping tariffs.

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GM’s Barra has worked to stay in Trump’s good graces after being a frequent target during his first term. This time around, she sided with him on his push to cancel California’s exemption to set emissions rules and got a big break when Trump rolled back vehicle emissions rules.