President Donald Trump toured a Ford Motor Co. assembly plant in Dearborn, Michigan, on Tuesday and addressed the Detroit Economic Club to defend his tariff policy, asserting that import taxes have triggered what he called a domestic manufacturing boom. The visit was Trump’s third trip to a swing state in as many months to make the case for his economic record amid persistent voter concern over rising prices. Consumer prices rose 0.3% in December from the prior month, the Labor Department said — the same rate as in November — providing modest evidence that cost pressures are easing but not reversing.
Trump’s Michigan stop came after Republicans fared poorly in November off-year elections in Virginia and New Jersey, with kitchen-table economic concerns cited as a leading factor. Economists broadly dispute the president’s claim that tariffs are borne primarily by foreign exporters, saying import taxes are typically passed through to U.S. consumers.
At the factory
Trump viewed F-150 trucks at various stages of production at the Ford plant, chatting with assembly-line workers and executive chairman Bill Ford, a descendant of Henry Ford. The tour included gas and hybrid models as well as the all-gas Raptor.
“All U.S. automakers are doing great,” Trump said.
He later gave a speech at the MotorCity Casino before the Detroit Economic Club. “The results are in, and the Trump economic boom has officially begun,” Trump said. He argued that tariffs were “one of the biggest reasons for this unbelievable success.”
Tariff claims and the economic data
Trump said tariffs were “overwhelmingly” paid by “foreign nations and middlemen” and insisted that “every prediction the critics made about our tariff policy has failed to materialize.” Economists say steep import taxes are instead passed from overseas manufacturers to U.S. consumers, contributing to cost-of-living pressure that voters have cited repeatedly in recent elections.
New data released before Trump left Washington showed consumer prices rose 0.3% in December from the prior month, the Labor Department said — the same rate as in November — a sign that price pressures are easing gradually.
The White House pledged after Election Day that Trump would travel more frequently to speak directly with the public about his administration’s economic efforts. Tuesday was his third such swing-state stop in as many months; earlier trips to Pennsylvania and North Carolina featured similar arguments on tariffs, with residents in both states telling reporters they still felt the sting of higher prices.
False claim about Michigan
Speaking to the Detroit Economic Club audience, Trump falsely claimed to have won Michigan three times. He carried the state in 2016 and 2024 but lost it to Joe Biden in 2020.
Auto tariff rollback and Ford’s EV retreat
Despite his defense of tariffs at the podium, Trump has pulled back on import levies in the automobile sector. His administration originally announced 25% tariffs on automobiles and auto parts, then relaxed those to ease production-cost pressure on domestic manufacturers.
Ford nonetheless announced in December that it was scrapping plans to build an electric F-150, despite having poured billions into broader electrification. That decision followed the Trump administration’s reduction of a target requiring half of all new vehicle sales to be electric by 2030, its elimination of EV tax credits, and its proposals to weaken emissions and gas mileage rules.
During the plant tour, Trump also suggested that the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement — the North American trade pact he negotiated during his first term — was no longer necessary, though he provided few details. The USMCA is up for review in 2026.
Powell investigation
Trump’s visit came as his Department of Justice has launched a criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, a move Powell said is a blatant endeavor to undermine the central bank’s independence in setting interest rates. Former Fed chairs, economic officials, and some Republican lawmakers have criticized the probe. Trump repeated his customary criticisms of Powell during his Michigan trip but offered little mention of the investigation itself.
Protest and dissent
About 100 people protested outside the venue where Trump spoke. Kassandra Rodriguez, a member of the Detroit Community Action Committee, said of the president: “He says a lot, but he means very little and I think we can see that. He doesn’t know how to enact real policy in a real way.”
Trump also promised Tuesday to unveil a new “health care affordability framework” later in the week and pledged additional affordability plans in the coming weeks.