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President Donald Trump is in Michigan , his first visit to the state since taking the Oval Office in January as he holds a rally in Warren to celebrate 100 days as Commander in Chief. Trump is speaking at Macomb Community College just after announcing new fighter jets will come to Selfridge Air Base that had been under threat of closure. President Donald Trump is supposed to speak at 6 p.
m. at Macomb Community College. WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 29: U.
S. President Donald Trump walks toward members of the media prior to answering questions before boarding Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House on April 29, 2025 in Washington, DC. Trump will travel to Michigan f The president will ease auto tariffs in an effort to boost US manufacturing after his April 2 25% tariff announcement.
The move would be a significant reversal as the import taxes threatened to hurt domestic manufacturers. The Wall Street Journal reported that the order involves changes in how the import taxes would be enforced to prevent multiple tariffs from being charged on foreign-made vehicles and reducing tariffs on parts imported to make autos domestically. The changes would also be retroactive.
FOX 2 Detroit will be streaming President Donald Trump's speeches in Michigan live on this page and on our YouTube channel. The President is making the visit to Michigan, a state rocked by his steep trade tariffs and combative attitude toward Canada. Why Michigan?: Michigan was one of the battleground states Trump flipped from the Democratic column last November as he swept the battleground states.
But Michigan has also been deeply affected by his tariffs, including on new imported cars and auto parts. Michigan pollster Bernie Porn said the choice of Michigan is about Trump doing what he wants. "I’m not sure that he is at all interested in doing the smart thing," said Porn.
"He is what I would call an in-your-face president. ‘This is what I’m going to do.’" For the past three months, Michigan's unemployment rate has climbed to 5.
5% after jumping 1.3% in March – making Michigan's unemployment rate among the highest in the nation and above the national average of 4.2%.
In the wake of Trump's 25% tariff announcement on April 2, Stellantis halted production in its plant in Windsor, Ontario, and temporarily laying off 900 U.S. autoworkers.
A look at the first 100 days of Donald Trump's presidency and answering questions from small businesses worried about the tariff impacts on the economy and their bottom line. Industry groups have separately urged the White House to scrap plans for tariffs on imported auto parts, warning that doing so would raise prices on cars and could trigger "layoffs and bankruptcy." The President may be heeding that warning, to an extent.
Tuesday morning, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump would sign an executive order to relax some of his tariffs on cars and auto parts. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who joined Leavitt at the White House briefing, said the goal was to enable automakers to create more domestic manufacturing jobs. "President Trump has had meetings with both domestic and foreign auto producers, and he’s committed to bringing back auto production to the U.
S.," Bessent said. "So we want to give the automakers a path to do that, quickly, efficiently and create as many jobs as possible.
" Trump will also be visiting Selfridge in Macomb County, which "Michigan always feels very, very positively toward Canada," said the pollster, who noted that its voters "can’t be reacting well to the kinds of things he’s done." The other side: His appearance with Whitmer is also notable and will be the second time in a month that the two will be photographed together. Whitmer and Michigan House Speaker Matt Hall both met with Trump in the White House on April 14 .
With the Trump administration's looming 25% tariffs on imported auto parts, the impact is hard to predict, according to Thad Szott of Szott Auto Group. "From a dealer perspective, I think every dealer is in a unique situation. Different manufacturers have different challenges," he said.
That's why Whitmer and Dingell sat down with around 15 different Metro Detroit dealership owners to discuss tariffs and how they might affect Michigan’s economy. Whitmer, who was elected first in 2018 and battled with Trump during his first term in 2020, has sought to find common ground as her term as governor winds down next year. The term-limited governor is concerned about the A-10 aircraft stationed at the base being phased out, though Trump recently said he hoped to keep Selfridge "open, strong, thriving.
" Porn noted that Whitmer has continued to criticize Trump on key issues like the environment. "She does, I think, more so than a lot of other Democrats, realize that the guy’s in office, and it probably makes sense to try and — to the extent possible on those things where they agree — work together with him," he said. The Source: The White House provided details about Trump's visit and the Associated Press provided information for this story.
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