DETROIT – President Donald Trump tweeted his disdain toward General Motors' plan to close multiple plants on Monday, following a tweet where he said he spoke to CEO Mary Barra.
"General Motors and the UAW are going to start “talks” in September/October. Why wait, start them now! I want jobs to stay in the U.S.A.," Trump tweeted.
General Motors and the UAW are going to start “talks” in September/October. Why wait, start them now! I want jobs to stay in the U.S.A. and want Lordstown (Ohio), in one of the best economies in our history, opened or sold to a company who will open it up fast! Car companies.....
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 18, 2019
Just spoke to Mary Barra, CEO of General Motors about the Lordstown Ohio plant. I am not happy that it is closed when everything else in our Country is BOOMING. I asked her to sell it or do something quickly. She blamed the UAW Union — I don’t care, I just want it open!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 17, 2019
The president posted Sunday evening that he talked to Barra about how he wanted a Lordstown, Ohio, plant to stay open and alleged that Barra blamed the United Auto Workers union.
While Trump wants the plants to stay open, Center for Automotive Research analyst Kristen Dziczek said federal labor laws lock in the process.
"There's only two entities that sit at the bargaining table, the UAW and GM, and they'll tell us how that all works out this fall," Dziczek said.
GM responded to the tweets.
"To be clear, under the terms of the UAW-GM National Agreement, the ultimate future of the unallocated plants will be resolved between GM and the UAW," a statement read.
