(AP) — President Donald Trump is touting his handling of the economy during a visit to suburban Detroit on Monday, defending sweeping tariffs in a swing state where their effects have hurt many businesses as midterm election season heats up. But he said the levies have helped General Motors. Trump is visiting a GM facility in Milford, that’s a testing and proving ground for its vehicles.
Before speaking in front of a crowd of more than 1,000 people, Trump watched Cadillacs, Corvettes and Hummers compete in a drag race demonstration ahead of an IndyCar race in Washington next month. Trump has promoted the IndyCar race as part of America’s 250th birthday celebrations. Trump was also given a tour of vehicles from different eras of GM, which concluded with his claim that the tariffs have helped the automaker.
He was accompanied by Mary Barra, chair and CEO of GM, other company executives and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. “They’ve come a long way,” he said to reporters about the Detroit-based automaker. “It’s amazing what tariffs are doing for GM.” Trump said he’s been good to the company but he declined to say more.
“The rest of the world doesn’t love me, but that’s OK,” he said, alluding to tariffs. “It’s called ‘America first.’” Early voting is underway for Michigan’s Aug. 4 primary, which features fierce nomination fights in both major political parties.
Republican Mike Rogers is unopposed in the Senate primary, but the GOP gubernatorial contest pits Trump-backed Rep. John James against Perry Johnson, a businessman turned politician who has launched unsuccessful campaigns before, including for president in 2024. Johnson is now trying to style himself in the president’s mold — despite missing out on his endorsement.
The Democratic Senate primary between Rep. Haley Stevens and progressive Abdul El-Sayed has drawn national attention for the right to face Rogers, who was narrowly defeated by Democrat Sen. Trump’s new Canada tariffs could hurt Michigan Michigan was one of the 2024 battlegrounds Trump flipped after it backed Democrat Joe Biden in 2020.
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