A banner depicting the Chevrolet Cruze model vehicle is displayed at the General Motors’ Lordstown plant, Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2018, in Lordstown, Ohio. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 6:25 AM PT — Thurs. Nov. 29, 2018
President Trump is criticizing General Motors (GM) after the company announced it would be shutting down some of its plants. In a tweet Thursday, the president cited how many auto companies are pouring into the U.S., while GM is countering the progress. He also stated how the U.S. is booming under his administration.
General Motors is very counter to what other auto, and other, companies are doing. Big Steel is opening and renovating plants all over the country. Auto companies are pouring into the U.S., including BMW, which just announced a major new plant. The U.S.A. is booming!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 29, 2018
The president’s tweet comes after GM announced this week it would cut about 14,000 jobs in Ohio and Michigan. The auto company’s move is hitting one town in Ohio particularly hard.
Worker’s in Lordstown, Ohio are struggling to cope with the idea that in a matter of months they will be out of a job as General Motors announced this week they will be closing the factory, which has sustained their community for over 50-years.
One GM employee — Tommy Wolikow — expressed his emotions to reporters Wednesday. Wolikow said he’s been laid off by the company before, but this time is different.
“There is a good chance that GM might literally shut its doors, and if that happens, I feel like, you know, our town is just going to be done — just finished,” he stated.
Tom Wolikow, a General Motors employee who is currently laid-off, left, takes a phone call at home alongside his fiance Rochelle Carlisle, right, Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2018, in Warren, Ohio. Even though unemployment is low, the economy is growing and U.S. auto sales are near historic highs, GM is cutting thousands of jobs in a major restructuring aimed at generating cash to spend on innovation. GM put five plants up for possible closure, including the plant in Lordstown. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
President Trump, who has long advocated for bringing manufacturing jobs back to the United States, tweeted at GM Tuesday to express his disappointment that the company is choosing to cut costs by favoring their factories in Mexico and China over benefiting American workers.
“We have a lot of pressure on them, you have Senators, you have a lot of other people — a lot of pressure,” said President Trump. “They say the Chevy Cruze is not selling well — I say, well, then get somebody, get a car that is selling well and put it back in.”
The president also announced his administration may punish GM by cutting the automaker off from the billions of dollars in subsidies, which saved it from financial ruin a decade ago.
In the meantime, the workers of Lordstown are pleading with GM to bring another product to their factory instead of closing it down and leaving them with nothing.
“There are people like me that have children that depend, we literally depend on being able to go to work and make that good money and get our paycheck at the end of the week and if you take that away from us, what are we going to do?” — Tommy Wolikow, GM employee — Lordstown, Ohio
