Donald Trump is back at it, taking credit for auto industry jobs he has nothing to do with—and where the news isn’t even all that good.
“We’re going to stop the jobs from leaving our country,” Trump told the crowd in Ypsilanti Township, Mich. “It’s not going to happen anymore, folks. Already, we’re seeing jobs coming back. Since my election … just today, breaking news, General Motors announced that they’re adding or keeping 900 jobs right here in Michigan.”
That’s GM that’s only still in business because of former President Obama’s auto rescue, by the way. Also, the “or keeping” part of “adding or keeping” is kind of important, and those 900 jobs aren’t the whole picture.
Two weeks ago, the company announced it would lay off 1,100 workers in May at its Lansing Delta Township assembly plant. GM had opted to shift production of an SUV to a plant in Tennessee, where 800 new jobs would open.
Bill Reed, president of UAW Local 602, which represents GM employees in Lansing, said the union worked with the automaker to find new work for the displaced workers. Though the plan was unveiled Wednesday, he said, negotiations started months ago.
“It doesn’t have anything to do with Donald Trump,” Reed said.
Many of the laid-off workers will now be back to work next year, but even the lucky ones will have to either find other work or collect unemployment for a while, and several hundred jobs won’t be back. Separately, GM is creating 220 jobs at its Romulus Powertrain Plant.
GM has been actively cutting jobs, creating jobs, and moving jobs around. The numbers aren’t all good for American workers and the reality is that Donald Trump doesn’t have much to do with any of them. But don’t expect Trump to stop trying to con his base into thinking he’s good for jobs.