In response to new reporting holding Trump accountable for his failed record on Michigan’s auto industry, DNC Spokesperson Stephanie Justice released the following statement:  

“Donald Trump is trying to rewrite his record on the auto industry, but Michigan voters know the truth: as president, he left behind a trail of broken promises. Trump failed on his promise that no plants would close on his watch, created new incentives for companies to ship jobs overseas, and sat back as Michiganders lost their jobs – all while giving handouts to his billionaire buddies and corporations. Trump failed Michigan once, and voters won’t give him the chance to do so again. Michiganders will reject Trump and his Project 2025 agenda in November.”

Detroit News: History casts doubt on Donald Trump’s auto industry promises

[Craig Mauger and Kalea Hall, 9/30/24]

• Former President Donald Trump has been promising Michigan voters this fall that he can revive the state’s auto industry and return it to “greatness,” but the Republican nominee failed to fully deliver on similar guarantees, made eight years ago, before his first term in the White House.

• On Friday night, Trump told a crowd at Macomb Community College in Warren that if he’s elected this fall, he’s going to bring back Michigan’s auto industry “at levels that have never been seen before.” About eight years ago, on Oct. 31, 2016, at the same venue, Trump told another Michigan crowd that he would “bring your jobs back” and, if elected in November 2016, “you won’t lose one plant.”

• Yet, the number of jobs in vehicle and parts manufacturing in Michigan declined during Trump’s first term — including before the COVID-19 pandemic hit — according to data from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. And while there were some additional investments made by the industry in Michigan over his four years in office, there were also auto plants that closed in the state, including the General Motors Co. Warren Transmission plant in 2019. 

• The number of jobs in vehicle and parts manufacturing in Michigan was about 175,000 when Trump took office in January 2017, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It dropped to 171,300 in February 2020, a decrease of 2.2%, before the state reported its first COVID-19 cases in March 2020, leading to Michigan auto plants being shuttered for eight weeks under a public health order from Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

• By the end of Trump’s term, there were 166,300 jobs in vehicle and parts manufacturing in Michigan, a drop of 5% from when he took office, according to the bureau’s data.

• Trump is making the same guarantees in 2024 about the industry that the Republican failed on during his first term, said Gene Sperling, an economist and adviser to multiple Democratic presidents, including Biden.

• “When he had his chance, he completely broke every single promise that he made to the American automobile manufacturing industry,” Sperling said of Trump.