President Donald Trump on Wednesday claimed that he ended “the assault on the American auto industry,” though the actions of President Barack Obama’s administration are widely understood to have saved the industry.
“The assault on the American auto industry, believe me, is over. It’s over. Not going to have it anymore,” Trump said in a speech at the American Center for Mobility near Ypsilanti, Michigan. “I kept my word.”
Trump said that he has “followed through on his promise, and by the way many other promises.”
“We’re setting up a task force in every federal agency to identify and remove any regulation that undermines American auto production and any other kind of production,” he said. “Including the production of high-end, low-end, big, small, every form of automobile and truck.”
The Obama administration’s bailout of the auto industry, widely understood to have saved it, became a contentious issue during the 2012 election when Republican candidate and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney tried to claim credit.
