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MILFORD, Mich. -- In a visit to Michigan on Monday, President Donald Trump argued that his economic policies have revived the auto industry and American manufacturing even as many businesses contend that the tariffs he's imposed against Canada and the rest of the world have hurt the state.
Trump defended his policies while visiting a General Motors facility in the Detroit suburb of Milford that is a testing ground for its vehicles. He pumped a fist after watching Corvette, Cadillac and Hummer vehicles compete in a series of drag races.
In a speech, Trump cheered GM's plans to expand production domestically in coming years and declared himself a president who was standing up for autoworkers "at long last."
"I've done more for you than your parents, OK?" he joked.
After being led on a tour of vehicles from different eras of GM, some of which he sat in, Trump claimed the tariffs have helped the automaker.
"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.'"
Trump called out several Republican candidates and invited them onstage during his remarks Monday.
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. Elissa Slotkin in 2024.
Michigan was one of the 2024 battlegrounds Trump flipped after it backed Democrat Joe Biden in 2020. But the state has seen parts of its economy affected by the president's tariffs, including on imported cars and auto parts.
A new round of steep import levies is taking effect on dozens of U.S. trading partners. But Trump has singled out Canada with tariffs as high as 50% on a wide array of its products, including cars.
The GM facility is in Oakland County, which encompasses much of Detroit's northern suburbs. Once a Republican stronghold, it has increasingly leaned Democratic, backing Biden against Trump in 2020 and Vice President Kamala Harris against Trump four years later.
GM says its facility is the oldest dedicated vehicle testing operation in the United States, where 4,200 employees work to refine nearly every vehicle the company makes before they reach consumers.