WARREN, Michigan — President Donald Trump gambled on a broad price approach that his blue-collar followers in Michigan are relying on to succeed.
After announcing” Liberation Day” levies on roughly 90 countries, ratcheting up a trade war with China, and hitting Canada and Mexico with new levies, it was fitting that Trump spent his 100th day in business in a bag of America all very familiar with the loss of manufacturing jobs.
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According to Trump’s idea of the situation, easing business disparities with other nations will encourage businesses to construct more in the USA and encourage a revival of the Motor City. Yet, skeptics warn that if Trump completely carries out his tax regime, much of which is on delay as trade deal talks are afoot, the result may get higher consumer prices for the very workers who helped return him to the White House.
In front of a crowd of thousands at Macomb County Community College, Trump declared,” A lot of car jobs are coming.” All companies want to return to Michigan and start building vehicles. You know why? They come from all over the world because of our income and tax plan. They’re approaching, they’re opening up new territories, and they’re conversing with us throughout the day and at evening.
” The automobile company in Michigan may increase. It will occur, Trump continued. It will improve beyond anything it has ever seen, and it won’t actually be tight. Businesses will be pouring up into Michigan”.
Despite this, a number of rally participants who spoke with the Washington Examiner on Tuesday declined to respond to questions about the president’s tariff agenda. Some said they” trusted” their judgment while others said they didn’t fully comprehend the economic theory driving Trump’s policies.
Another Trump supporters who were present sounded much more comfortable in defending the tax plan.
Brian Pannebecker, a MAGA-famous withdrew autoworker who often attends Trump rallies in Michigan, was brought on level by the leader to accept the laws. Pannebecker told the Washington Examiner that tariffs will re-establish manufacturing employment in Michigan and the rest of the country following Trump’s conversation.
They are aware of these problems. And it had gotten so scattered — parts may go across the frontier, they’d get put into an council. They return across the boundary and are added to something else that crosses the frontier, he said in an interview. In a single word, “I’ll tell you, what the taxes ‘ purpose is: to power our domestic car firms to relocate their crops to Canada and Mexico.”
Lynn Caverall, a retired car employee and native of Macomb County, added that he is “pleased with positively all Donald Trump is doing for America best now,” including imposing severe tariffs on trading partners.
” I spent a lot of time working in the car companies around the metro-Detroit place, and I witnessed the migration of work to Mexico and other nations,” he said. ” So my feel of the staff here in America, specifically in this area, is they’re truly positive and looking forward to the job coming back. I believe the current state of the economy will be re-established by the levies. It’s time for a restore because we’ve spent years and years dealing with the bad people.
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The success of Macomb County, a bellwether county in Michigan, has been attributed in large part to the fact that automobile staff and other blue-collar employees have supported Trump in the past three elections in a way that has contributed to the development of the word Reagan Democrats.
Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee for president in that election, won by 11, 000 votes in the 2016 primary election, breaking what has been referred to as the “blue wall” or the dozen or so West says that had supported Democrats between 1992 and 2012, in the primary.
Trump may have lost Michigan to former President Joe Biden in 2020 by 154, 000 vote, but he made up last month against then-Vice President Kamala Harris, winning the condition by 80, 000 votes, a response, in part, to the Biden administration’s assistance of electric automobiles, an unpopular legislation among car workers and other Reagan Democrats who were at risk of losing or lost their jobs during the move.
Harris was supported by the United Auto Workers during the 2024 campaign, but Shawn Fain and the organization’s president Shawn Fain later said they would support Trump’s tariffs because they would boost American jobs and domestic manufacturing.
However, Trump’s approval rating, at least according to RealClearPolitics, dropped by 7 % on his 100th day in office, which could have an impact on his agenda and Republican performance in the midterm elections of next year. To that end, Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order providing relief from auto-related tariffs, which he mentioned during his remarks Tuesday evening.
The most vocal supporters of the tariffs are unions and auto workers. According to Jamie Roe, the long-term chief of staff to former Macomb County Republican Rep. Candice Miller, Trump enjoys strong support in Macomb County and among blue collar workers. ” First president ever who is putting workers ahead of Wall Street, wants more manufacturing jobs, and willing to stick it to China instead of selling out. Trump’s base is well established in this country.
However, Joshua Koss, an assistant professor of political science at Eastern Michigan University, claimed that if the tariffs result in significant price increases or fail to create new jobs quickly, Trump could lose support from Michigan’s fully electorate and support the auto workers.
” If anyone is going to support this tariff agenda, you would think this would be the only, or at least one of the top, groups that would be in favor of it”, Koss explained. However, auto workers are essentially the same as everyone else because they will still be affected by higher prices for all of their other goods.
” Voters generally aren’t willing to give that much of a runway to it once they start seeing their bills are racking up the cost. I believe that’s when they start to kind of turn their heads to him, he continued. ” But there’s the question of, how much do the voters ‘ opinions matter, right?” If he’s sort of essentially a lame duck for the next four years, there’s no real electoral accountability”.
Similar comments made by Mike LaFaive, senior director of the Morey Fiscal Policy Initiative at the Mackinac Center, about Trump’s tariffs raising” the costs of living, working, and creating jobs and economic growth.
” Protectionist policies may seem appealing to some on paper. There’s an idea that if we just raise the cost of imports then locals — including local automakers — may thrive due to the decrease in international competition”, he continued. However, consumers everywhere are then required to pay for that protection through higher prices and fewer choices.
Trump first stopped at Macomb County’s Selfridge Air National Guard Base where the governor and president greeted him as they celebrated their 100-days. Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI ) announced plans for a new commission for the base, marking Whitmer’s third appearance alongside Trump since January. Trump stated that he intended to replace the base’s A-10 Warthogs with more than 20 F-15EV Eagle IIs.  ,
Trump’s headline event, a campaign-style rally, took place at the Macomb Community College Sports &, Expo Center. The president made a nearly 2-hour speech in which he attempted to drive home the alleged positive effects that his tariffs will have on Warren and other state-specific auto-manufacturing communities.
Democrats are steadfast in their resolve to make amends with the state’s auto workers, who were once crucial members of the Democratic Party’s base, in Michigan in 2026 and 2028.
” I believe that on an entry level, basic level most of the workers are concerned ]about ] the tariffs and how]they are ] gonna affect the auto industry, however leadership]is ] split between giving him some time and being realistic about the potential results of his tariff policy”, Sameh Elhady, a member of the Macomb County Democratic Party who has criticized Democrats in the past, told the Washington Examiner.
According to Alysa Diebolt, a spokeswoman for the Macomb County Democratic Party, “people are waning in support of Trump,” in part because of the tariffs.  ,
” I’m already hearing of layoffs in automotive plants”, Diebolt told the Washington Examiner. In regards to DOGE, I’m also hearing from people who work in some of our various military installations say,” I didn’t think he’d be coming after me.”
In response to Trump’s tariff announcement, Stellantis temporarily suspended production at one assembly plant each in Mexico and Canada last month, firing 900 temporary employees at five U.S. facilities.
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Elhady advised Democrats to “work through the party’s message” and offer a radically different perspective, noting that” we are not yet clear about what we stand for and who we stand with.”
He said,” We are always concerned about pleasing a party or deceiving or eliminating another party.” ” I think we need to be clear about what we want to do and how we]are ] gonna do it, and allowing new blood to be]on ] the front line”.
