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WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump has stepped up his pressure on General Motors to reopen a manufacturing facility in Ohio that has just shut down and puts 1,700 people out of work.
Trump's arm twist came in a series of separate tweets on Saturday and Sunday. He closed his weekend speech against the CEO with a tweet revealing that he had expressed his frustrations during a conversation with the company's CEO, Mary Barra.
"I'm not happy it's closed when all the rest of our country is booming," Trump wrote. "I asked him to sell it or do something quickly. She blamed Union UAW: I do not care about that, I just want it to be open!
The union is United Automobile Workers, which represents employees who lost their jobs at the closure of Lordstown. Trump had previously asked an UAW leader, David Green, to "gather his strength and produce" for the Lordstown workers. Green did not respond to a request for comment Sunday.
In a statement released Sunday night, General Motors said that the future of the plants whose closure is planned "will be resolved between GM and the UAW". The automaker also said that there remained "opportunities for almost all affected employees" in the factories to be closed.
"We remain open to discussion with all relevant stakeholders, but our main focus remains our employees and offer jobs in our factories where we have growth opportunities," the company said.
Even when Trump said he had spoken to Barra, he had asked GM to reopen his plant in Lordstown or find another owner, while insisting that the Detroit automaker "must act quickly."
He also blamed GM for dropping the United States and said that "much better" carmakers would visit the country.
Trump praised Toyota for its investments in the United States in an apparent attempt to portray GM as less committed to its home country than the Japanese automaker.
The closure of Lordstown has become a hot topic in an area of Ohio that is expected to play a crucial role for Trump's wish to be re-elected as promised in 2020.
Trump prevailed in Ohio in the 2016 elections, a victory that helped him win enough electoral votes to become president despite the defeat of Hillary Clinton's popular vote.
That's perhaps one of the reasons why Trump joined a coalition of Ohio lawmakers with the goal of restarting the Lordstown factory. The tweets have marked some of his sharpest criticisms against GM so far.
Trump has urged several other US companies not to do more to help the economy of their country, but his remarks so far have been more ardent than ever.
For example, he has publicly asked Apple to transfer the bulk of its manufacturing operations to China to the United States, but the Silicon Valley company continues to manufacture its iPhones and most other products in the United States. ;foreign.
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, a Republican, voiced his doubts last week as GM reopened its plant in Lordstown.
More than 16 million vehicles were manufactured at the Lordstown plant during its 53-year history, until GM closed it earlier this month as part of a mbadive reorganization. The company also intends to close four other North American plants by the beginning of next year.
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