President Donald Trump said he was looking into cutting subsidies from General Motors after the company announced Monday it would cut more than 14,000 people from its payroll and shutter seven factories.
“Very disappointed with General Motors and their CEO, Mary Barra, for closing plants in Ohio, Michigan and Maryland,” Trump tweeted Tuesday. “Nothing being closed in Mexico & China. The U.S. saved General Motors, and this is the THANKS we get!”
Trump said he would look into “cutting all GM subsidies, including for electric cars.”
The cuts will cost an estimated $2 billion as GM car sales have slowed in both China and the U.S. GM’s stock soared after Monday’s announcement, closing at 37.65, up nearly 5 percent on the day.
In response to Trump, GM released a statement saying it “appreciate[s]” what the administration has done for the “overall competitiveness of U.S. manufacturing.”
The president tweeted that he is “here to protect America’s Workers!” But the closing of several GM plants belies Trump’s promise at a July 2017 rally in Youngstown, Ohio, that his constituents’ jobs were coming back.
“Let me tell you folks in Ohio and in this area, don’t sell your house,” Trump said at the time. “We’re going to get those jobs coming back, and we’re going to fill up those factories or rip them down and build brand-new ones. It’s going to happen.”
A General Motors plant in nearby Lordstown, Ohio, had laid off workers earlier that year. That plant will now be “unallocated,” according to the company.
This story has been updated with a statement from GM.