[ad_1]
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump has stepped up his pressure on General Motors to reopen a manufacturing facility in Ohio that has just closed and put 1,700 people out of work.
The twist of Trump's arms came in two separate tweets the Saturday and Sunday .
He asked GM to reopen its plant in Lordstown or find another owner, while insisting that the Detroit automaker "must act quickly."
He also criticized GM for dropping the United States and said that "much better" carmakers are going to 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.
GM did not immediately respond to requests for comments on Sunday.
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 called publicly Apple will transfer most of its manufacturing activities from China to the United States, but the Silicon Valley company continues to manufacture its iPhones and most other products overseas.
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, a Republican, expressed his doubts last week as GM was going to reopen its Lordstown plant, but said the automaker was in discussion with another company to use this site .
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.
Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, disseminated, rewritten or redistributed.
[ad_2]
Source link
