Donald Trump promises to stop states from banning gas-powered cars and trucks as he pitches the auto industry to crucial voters in Michigan
Former President Donald Trump vowed Thursday that no state would be allowed to ban gas-powered cars if he is elected in November.
He made the promise at a meeting in Saginaw, Michigan, an area that once produced parts for Detroit’s auto industry but has fallen on hard times due to the decline of U.S. manufacturing.
The 78-year-old Republican candidate is trying to win back the state from Democrats and has made a series of car-friendly promises to an audience of thousands in a cavernous college gym.
“When I’m president, no state will be allowed to ban gas-powered cars – and I guarantee that,” he said to cheers of approval.
He notably steered clear of his latest legal troubles, a federal filing that reveals new evidence of what prosecutors said were his “increasingly desperate” efforts to cling to power after losing the 2020 election.
Former President Donald Trump vowed Thursday that no state would be allowed to ban gas-powered cars if he is elected in November
Instead, he laid out his economic priorities, which include forcing foreign auto companies to build models in the U.S. or face punitive tariffs on imports.
Trump has spoken out against the Biden administration’s efforts to accelerate the transition to electric vehicles with a mix of carrots and sticks. And his nemesis, California Governor Gavin Newsom, has pledged to ban the sale of all gasoline cars and trucks in his state by 2035 and phase them out completely by 2045.
But Trump has recently moderated his opposition to electric vehicles in general, saying the choice should be left to consumers.
On Thursday, he promised that Michigan’s economy would boom if he had the chance to curb foreign imports.
‘This should be the car capital of the world. I call it the lack of automotive capital,” he said.
‘It will eventually be bigger, better and more beautiful than at its peak.
His claims are likely to be met with skepticism in Michigan. A Detroit News analysis this week found that the number of auto and parts manufacturing jobs in Michigan fell during Trump’s first term, according to Department of Labor statistics.
And it showed that Michigan’s share of U.S. auto production fell from 22 percent in 2013 to 14 percent in 2020.
In a speech lasting just under 90 minutes, Trump also touched on all his usual talking points and untruths: that he won the 2020 election, that the crowds were big, that European countries aren’t paying their NATO bills, that there would be no war come to Ukraine if he was president.
Trump spoke in Saginaw, the most swinging swing county in the swing state of Michigan
He spoke for almost 90 minutes in his usual freewheeling style, making bold claims, outright lies and the kind of bombast his rally crowd loves
Supporters filed into Saginaw Valley State University’s Ryder Center for Health and Physical Education
He slammed his rival Kamala Harris, saying this would be devastating to the economy.
And he promised to take action against rising prices.
“From day one of my new administration, we will end inflation, and we will make America affordable again, which is not affordable. They’ll kill you,” he said.
Trump spent the third of four days in just over a week in what Democrats see as their blue wall in the Midwest. After visiting Wisconsin twice in the past week, he will be back there on Sunday for a rally.
On Thursday, he found himself on the other side of Lake Michigan, not just in a swing state, but in the swingiest of swing counties.
Two vendors selling Trump merchandise got into a fight before the event
In 2016, Trump claimed Saginaw County by 1.1 percentage points over Hillary Clinton, edging out Michigan by just 11,000 votes.
In 2020, it was all about Joe Biden, when he won back the state.
“That includes Saginaw County, and Michigan,” goes a local expression.
The area was closely linked to the state’s automotive industry. Parts manufactured here would be assembled into cars in Detroit.
But the decline of the industry brought ruin to Saginaw.
A day earlier, Trump’s running mate Sen. J.D. Vance was in the area, campaigning on the state of Michigan’s economy and auto industry.