President Trump preempted the "big announcement" with an early morning tweet in which he touted, "Car companies coming back to U.S. JOBS! JOBS! JOBS!" Trump has pointed to a series of investments in domestic manufacturing that automakers have recently announced as a sign his administration is delivering on its economic promise to bring jobs back to the United States. Ford, Fiat-Chrysler and General Motors, among other companies, got early mentions in his joint address to Congress last month for investing and hiring in the U.S.
But such massive investment decisions take longer to plan and execute than Trump has been in office. The investments Ford announced Tuesday, for example, are part of a 2015 contract between the automaker and United Auto Workers in which the company agreed to invest $9 billion and create or retain 8,500 jobs through 2019.
Joseph Hinrichs, Ford’s president for the Americas, said in an interview that the company reached out to Trump shortly before 8 a.m. this morning about the announcement, so it is unclear what prompted the president’s 140-character missive at 6:36 a.m. The Detroit News reported the investments Monday night in a story citing anonymous sources.