Trump is scheduled to visit the Ford plant and promote manufacturing in Detroit

DETROIT (AP) — President Donald Trump will travel to Michigan on Tuesday to promote his efforts to boost U.S. manufacturing, trying to counter concerns about a weak labor market and fears that persistently high prices are taking a toll on Americans’ pocketbooks.

The day trip will include a tour of the Ford plant in Dearborn that builds the F-150 pickup trucks, the best-selling domestic vehicle in the United States. The Republican president is also scheduled to speak at the Detroit Economic Club at the Motor City Casino.

Watch live: Trump addresses the Detroit Economic Club

This comes as the Trump administration’s criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has caused a stir, with defenders of the US central bank opposing Trump’s efforts to exert more control over it.

Federal data released in December before the president left Washington showed inflation fell slightly last month as gas and used car prices fell, a sign that cost pressures are slowly easing. The Labor Department said consumer prices rose 0.3% in December from the previous month, the same level they were in November.

“We have very low inflation,” Trump told reporters on the White House lawn as he left Washington, adding, “And growth is rising. We have tremendous growth numbers.” When asked about Powell’s investigation, the president repeatedly criticized the Fed chief, but did not comment on the issue.

November elections in Virginia, New Jersey and elsewhere showed a shift away from Republicans as public concerns about kitchen table issues persist. In the aftermath, the White House said Trump would focus more on speaking directly to the public about his economic policies after doing relatively few events across the country earlier in his term.

The president has suggested that concerns about affordability are a “hoax” needlessly raised by Democrats. However, despite imposing hefty tariffs on US trading partners around the world, Trump has cut some of them when it comes to auto manufacturing – including extending import duties on foreign-made auto parts through 2030.

Ford announced last month that it had scrapped plans to build an electric F-150, despite pumping billions of dollars into broader electrification, after the Trump administration lowered its goals to make half of new car sales electric by 2030, eliminated tax breaks for electric vehicles and proposed weakening emissions and gas mileage rules.

Trump’s visit to Michigan follows economy-focused speeches he made last month in Pennsylvania — where his complaints about immigrants arriving in the United States from “shithole” countries received more attention than his pledges to fight inflation — and North Carolina, where he insisted that his tariffs stimulated the economy, even as residents noted the pressure of rising prices.

Tuesday also marked the second time Trump spoke about the economy in a swing state with a casino in the background. His speech was delivered in Pennsylvania at the Mount Airy Casino Resort in Mount Pocono.

Trump won Michigan in 2016 and 2024, after it flipped Democratic and backed Joe Biden in 2020. He celebrated his first 100 days in office with a rally-style speech in April outside Detroit, focusing more on past campaign grudges than his administration’s economic or political plans.

During that visit nearly nine months ago, Trump also spoke at Selfridge Air National Guard Base and announced a new fighter jet mission, allaying fears that the base might close. It was such a win for Michigan Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer that the two shared a hug.

This time, Democrats criticized the president’s trip, highlighted national Republican opposition to extending health care benefits, and recalled a moment in October 2024 when Trump, then addressing the Detroit Economic Club, said that Democrats keeping the White House meant that “our entire country will end up looking like Detroit.”

“You’re going to have chaos on your hands,” Trump said during a campaign rally at the time.

“After spending months claiming affordability was a ‘sham’ and creating a health care crisis for Michiganders, Donald Trump is now coming to Detroit — the city he hates — to promote his billionaire-first agenda while working families suffer,” said Michigan Democratic Party Chairman Curtis Hertel.

“Michigan residents are feeling the effects of the Trump economy every day,” Hertel said in a statement.

Weissert reported from Washington.