DETROIT – The fallout from General Motors' decision to close five plants and lay off nearly 15,000 workers is growing by the hour and it seems President Donald Trump is leading the way.
Pres. Trump tweeted:
Very disappointed with General Motors and their CEO, Mary Barra, for closing plants in Ohio, Michigan and Maryland. Nothing being closed in Mexico & China. The U.S. saved General Motors, and this is the THANKS we get! We are now looking at cutting all @GM subsidies, including for electric cars.
The president sent the first Tweet around 2 p.m. and GM's stock price took a steep drop after 2 p.m. But after 3:40 p.m. the stock price went up, which happened after GM issued a statement.
The federal government has given GM's advanced battery consortium roughly $43 million this year; it has also given about $30 million in grant money to the company.
The president is threatening to cut the funding as a way to get GM to back down on its announcement about plant closings and job cuts, GM doesn't appear ready to back down.
Trump tweeted:
General Motors made a big China bet years ago when they built plants there (and in Mexico) - don’t think that bet is going to pay off. I am here to protect America’s Workers!
GM responded:
"GM is committed to maintaining a strong manufacturing presence in the U.S. Yesterday's announcements support our ability to invest for future growth and position the company for long-term success and maintain and grow American jobs."
"We appreciate the actions this administration has taken on behalf of the industry to improve the overall competitiveness of U.S. manufacturing."
Yet, for all the excitement, Detroit-Hamtramck line worker Eugene Harris isn't at all concerned.
"I didn't think it would be anything and really didn't. You don't think they're gonna shut it down? I don't think so, no," Harris said.
He believes trucks or SUVs will replace the Volt in the 2019 national contract.
GM added this to its statement: "Many of the U.S. workers impacted by these actions will have the opportunity to shift to other GM plants where we will need more employees to support growth in trucks, crossovers and SUVs."
GM only has a minimal presence at the LA Auto Show; no executives there are talking about this issue.
Analysts are still viewing this as a bold and necessary move at the right time considering GM does have enough cash to deal with the costs of its plan.