Former President Donald Trump speaks during an interview with NBC News’ Kristen Welker, Sept. 14, 2023.
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WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump warned that U.S. autoworkers’ jobs will move to China and accused the United Auto Employees’ leadership of failing its members, 1000’s of whom went on strike Friday against General Motors, Ford and Stellantis.
“The autoworkers won’t have any jobs, Kristen, because all of those cars are going to be made in China. The electrical cars, mechanically, are going to be made in China,” Trump told NBC News’ Kristen Welker in an exclusive, wide-ranging interview set to air Sunday on “Meet the Press.”
“The autoworkers are being sold down the river by their leadership, and their leadership should endorse Trump,” added the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination.
Employees work on a automobile assembly line on the SAIC General Motors Co. plant in Wuhan, China, May 18, 2022.
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Roughly 13,000 U.S. autoworkers stopped making vehicles and went on strike following failed negotiations on a slew of issues, including higher pay.
The strike marked the primary time the United Auto Employees union targeted the three automaker titans concurrently.
Employees walked out at GM’s midsize truck and full-size van assembly plant in Wentzville, Missouri; Ford’s Ranger pickup and Bronco SUV plant in Wayne, Michigan; and Stellantis’ Jeep Wrangler and Gladiator plant in Toledo, Ohio.
Read more: Why the United Auto Employees want big raises
Trump specifically criticized UAW President Shawn Fain. “I believe he isn’t doing a great job in representing his union, because he isn’t going to have a union in three years from now. Those jobs are all going to be gone, because all of those electric cars are going to be made in China. That is what’s happening,” Trump said.
Fain has previously said that a second Trump presidency can be a “disaster.” But he has also withheld his endorsement of President Joe Biden.
United Auto Employees President Shawn Fain speaks with the media and union members outside the UAW Local 900 headquarters across the road from the Ford Assembly Plant in Wayne, Michigan, Sept. 15, 2023.
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Speaking from the White House on Friday, Biden said he hopes all parties are in a position to strike “a win-win agreement.”
“The businesses have made some significant offers,” Biden said, adding “But I feel they need to go further to make sure record corporate profits mean record contracts for the UAW.”
Biden said he also respects the suitable of staff to “use their options under the collective bargaining system.”
Read more: Biden says record profits should ensure record contracts as UAW strikes Ford, GM and Stellantis plants
Trump has sought to seize the mantle of most fervent China hawk within the U.S. presidential election. He also tried to make Biden’s electric vehicle push a key a part of his case against the president.
The crumbling relationship between Washington and Beijing, the world’s two largest economies, intensified under the Trump administration.
Trump placed blame squarely on China for a wide selection of grievances, including mental property theft, unfair trade practices and the coronavirus pandemic.
Biden has sought to work consistently with allies as a way to mount a more united pushback against China.
Biden has also previously said that in his political profession, he has spent more time with Chinese President Xi Jinping than he has with another world leader.