Trump says he's done more for Michigan autoworkers than their parents
Story by Joey Garrison
President Donald Trump told Michigan autoworkers that he's done more to improve their lives than their own parents in a speech at a General Motors facility outside of Detroit less than 100 days from the midterm elections.
"I've done more for you than your parents, OK?" Trump said, speaking at GM's automotive testing facility in Milford, Michigan. "Your parents are good. I'm not going to knock your parents, but I have been better to you than your parents. That I can tell you, and they would agree with me."
Trump's remarks came as he blasted United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain for his union's endorsement of Democrats Joe Biden and later Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election. "You wouldn't have an auto industry right now if they got elected," Trump said.
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"I don't know what happened to the guy. Somebody said he got fired," Trump said of Fain, who remains UAW's president. "But I can tell you, it's the people that count. Those people love Trump."
Trump credited his tariffs on foreign automobiles for strengthening the U.S. auto industry. He said GM's truck and SUV production is up by 20% in 2026.
But employment in autos and auto parts is down about 4% nationally from December 2024, the month before Trump took office, according to preliminary seasonally adjusted June numbers from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In Michigan, total manufacturing jobs fell 2.5% during the same period.
Trump has long touted his support among working-class union members, including autoworkers, who have bucked their union's Democratic endorsements to vote for him. His strong backing among blue-collar white voters helped him carry Michigan in the 2024 election four years after losing the state to Biden.
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In his 65-minute speech, Trump slammed Democrats as extreme "communists" and claimed the United States has had "the single greatest year we've ever had as a country." He also revealed his administration recently ordered 250 Cadillac Escalades for the presidential motorcade.
"We look sharp in those Escalades. Our guys are very spoiled. They like the Escalades, so do I," Trump said. "They're making literally 250 of them, and it was about time."
It was not immediately clear how much the government spent to purchase the vehicles or when they will they will join the motorcade.
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Trump sought to use his trip to Michigan to boost the candidacy of Mike Rogers, who is expected to be the state's Republican nominee for U.S. Senate after losing narrowly to Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin in the 2024 election. Rogers is likely to face either Rep. Haley Stevens or Abdul El-Sayed as the Democratic Senate nominee.
Michigan's party primaries are Aug. 4.
"Imagine if, Mr. President, you have a senator that cares as much about manufacturing, especially in Michigan, as you do," Rogers, a former Republican congressman, said after Trump welcomed him and other Michigan Republican candidates on stage.
Rogers later added: "When I get back there, Mr. President, if you haven't gotten it done, we're going to pass the SAVE Act," the president's long-stalled bill that seeks to overhaul voting in federal elections.
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