Former President Donald Trump on March 18 accused media outlets and their “Democrat Partners” of pushing a false narrative regarding a comment he made about a “bloodbath” in the auto industry if he isn’t reelected.
During a speech at a rally in Dayton, Ohio, on March 16, President Trump discussed auto imports into the United States from auto plants set up in Mexico by China’s communist regime.
He said China is “building a couple of massive plants where they’re gonna build the cars in Mexico, and they think that they’re gonna sell those cars into the United States, with no tax at the border.”
“If you’re listening, President Xi,” the former president said, referring to Chinese leader Xi Jinping, “those big monster car manufacturing plants that you’re building in Mexico right now, and you think you’re going to get that, you’re going to not hire Americans, and you’re going to sell the cars to us. No, we’re going to put a 100 percent tariff on every single car that comes across the line, and you’re not going to be able to sell those guys—if I get elected.”
President Trump then said auto imports from China-controlled plants in Mexico would be hit with a 100 percent tariff only if he wins the 2024 election while issuing a warning about the impact of a possible second term for President Joe Biden on the auto industry or on the U.S. economy more broadly.
“Now, if I don’t get elected, it’s going to be a bloodbath for the whole—that’s going to be the least of it. It’s going to be a bloodbath for the country,” he said.
President Trump then continued discussing the restricting imports of automobiles made at China-controlled plants, insisting that “they’re not going to sell those cars” in the United States.
While it seemed clear that his “bloodbath” comment was made in reference to the auto industry or the U.S. economy more broadly, a series of news headlines by various media outlets suggested that he was threatening political violence.
President Trump on March 18 accused media outlets of distorting his comments to cast him in a negative light.
He then took aim at President Biden’s electric vehicle (EV) mandate, reiterating his position that it would be good for countries such as China, which controls the lion’s share of EV production, and bad for the United States.
“The United Auto Workers, but not their leadership, fully understand what I mean,” President Trump said. “With the Electric Car Mandate being pushed by Biden, there soon won’t be any cars made in the USA–UNLESS I'M ELECTED PRESIDENT, IN WHICH CASE AUTO MANUFACTURING WILL THRIVE LIKE NEVER BEFORE!!! MAGA2024.”
Trump Sounds Off on EV Policy
The EV transition has become a polarizing issue, with President Trump hinting repeatedly that if he wins another term in November, the Biden administration’s EV policies would be on the chopping block.While the former president has said that he has no objections to the development of EVs as an alternative technology in and of itself, he has made clear that he thinks that the type of vehicles people buy should be a matter of personal choice and not government mandates.
And he’s expressed vocal opposition to government policies that seek to end fossil fuels, arguing that the Biden administration’s net zero push is not just bad for the economy but also undermines national security.
“And you know, the electric cars are ... it’s not even a possibility to go all electric.
“This Biden all-electric mandate is by very, very stupid, people. First of all, they don’t go far. They cost too much, and they’re all gonna be made in China.”
He said he thinks that auto workers would support his candidacy over President Biden’s for that reason.
In September 2023, when unionized auto workers were in tense contract negotiations with the Big Three automakers—Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis—President Trump urged them to demand that the Biden administration repeal the EV mandate. The former president has argued that pushing the EV transition would lead to job losses in the U.S. auto industry.
President Trump also warned at the time that if President Biden’s EV mandate isn’t repealed, the U.S. auto industry is at risk of extinction.
“If that disastrous Biden policy is allowed to stand, the U.S. auto industry will cease to exist, and all your jobs will be sent to China,” he said in the statement. “That’s why there’s no such thing as a ‘fair transition’ to all-electric cars. For the American Autoworker, that’s a transition to Hell. Nothing is more important than terminating this job-crushing mandate.”
Amid a shortage of EV charging infrastructure, the Biden administration has pledged to build 1.2 million publicly available EV chargers by 2040, thanks in part to the $7.5 billion in taxpayer funds that were earmarked for this purpose in the 2021 infrastructure bill.
