Overview
- He toured Ford’s River Rouge complex in Dearborn and spoke to the Detroit Economic Club, defending tariffs and claiming new plants are opening because of them.
- The White House pointed to dipping mortgage rates and lower gasoline prices as proof of progress, and the president said he will unveil an affordability plan at Davos.
- Labor Department data showed U.S. manufacturing employment fell by about 8,000 in December, even as affordability remains a top voter concern.
- Ford recently ended plans for an electric F‑150 after the administration rolled back EV sales targets, eliminated tax credits, and proposed looser emissions rules.
- The trip was shadowed by the Justice Department’s subpoena of Fed Chair Jerome Powell as Trump attacked him publicly, and police made at least two protest-related arrests outside the venue.