11/27/2018

AUTO INDUSTRY/JOBS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “When General Motors announced that it would idle five North American plants and eliminate thousands of jobs, it said the move would ease the burden of spending billions of dollars to develop the battery-powered vehicles of the future. But the White House put a question mark over those plans on Tuesday [11-27-18] when President Trump — irate over the cutbacks — threatened to punish G.M. by ending federal tax credits that have helped underwrite that automaker’s electric-vehicle fleet. ‘Very disappointed with General Motors and their CEO, Mary Barra, for closing plants in Ohio, Michigan and Maryland,’ Mr. Trump said in a Twitter post. ‘Nothing being closed in Mexico & China.’ Apparently referring to G.M.’s federal rescue from bankruptcy in 2009, the president added: ‘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.’”

Neal E. Boudette, “What’s Behind the G.M. Cutbacks, and Why Trump Is Angry,” The New York Times online, November 27, 2018