President Donald Trump will visit Detroit Tuesday afternoon to promote U.S. manufacturing, as factory jobs continue to decline and affordability becomes a focus of the administration.
Trump’s Michigan trip will include a tour of a Ford factory that makes F-150 pickup trucks, the bestselling domestic vehicle of 2025, before he is slated to give remarks at the Detroit Economic Club later in the afternoon.
It comes weeks after Labor Department data indicated the U.S. lost approximately 8,000 manufacturing jobs in December alone – the eighth straight month of losses since Trump announced sweeping global tariffs.
On top of the manufacturing job decline, the average cost of a new car increased last year and some experts expect the average price to top $50,000 this year.
Trump has recently focused his attention on affordability, hoping to take the messaging away from Democrats, by asserting his administration is lowering consumer prices and making the cost of living more accessible.
Catch up: Trump claims prices are ‘way down’ in rant on economy
Donald Trump claimed that “prices are way down” for Americans in a new interview touting his apparent economic success.
The president said his administration was doing a “great job on the word ‘affordability’” despite claiming just weeks ago that the word was a “hoax” created by the Democratic Party.
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Inflation steadied in December, Trump brags
The Consumer Price Index indicated inflation ended on a relatively steady note, with consumer prices around 2.7 percent higher than a year ago – numbers that remain consistent with November’s report.
“JUST OUT: Great (LOW!) Inflation numbers for the USA. That means that Jerome ‘Too Late’ Powell should cut interest rates, MEANINGFULLY!!!” Trump wrote on Truth Social Tuesday morning. He attributed the lower inflation numbers to his tariffs.
The latest CPI also pulled down the cost of used cars and trucks, which fell slightly more than 1 percent in December.
Trump may mention the new report in his Tuesday address at the Detroit Economic Club.
What is the Detroit Economic Club?
Trump will give remarks at the Detroit Economic Club this afternoon – the third time he will have given remarks to members.
The Detroit Economic Club is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that is focused on business, government and social issues. The organization has hosted every single sitting president since former President Richard Nixon.
Trump is speaking at 2 p.m. EST at the group’s MotorCity Casino’s Sound Board Theater.
Details about Trump’s speech have not been disclosed.
Manufacturing jobs have been down eight months in a row
For eight months in a row last year, manufacturing jobs declined in the United States – with many experts attributing the loss to President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs in April.
Manufacturing jobs had been steadily declining since 2023, but those numbers jumped after Trump imposed tariffs, impacting nearly every sector in the U.S.
Automobile manufacturing was one of the hardest hit sectors due to Trump’s aluminum and steel tariffs in 2025. Car manufacturers had anticipated costs to rise because many of the parts used to assemble cars are imported from Canada and Mexico.
Welcome to The Independent’s live blog
President Donald Trump is headed to Detroit, Michigan this Tuesday to tour a Ford manufacturing plant and give remarks at the Detroit Economic Club.
The Independent will be live-blogging today’s events and speech.
