Trump’s Broken Promises on Michigan’s Economy

In 2016, Donald Trump campaigned in Michigan and vowed to supercharge the state’s economy. He didn’t. He’s been back many times since, making promises – some of them very specific – that he hasn’t kept.

Still, Trump’s boasting of a strong economy in Michigan, no matter how fictional, has become central to his reelection bid. And recent polling shows that Americans give him an edge over Joe Biden when it comes to things like jobs, manufacturing, and standing up to China.

That’s why Democrats must tell the whole story to Michigan voters: the state’s economy, jobs, businesses, and health care are all worse because of Donald Trump, and real Michiganders have been hurt. They can’t take four more years of Trump’s lies and broken economic promises.

If you want data – the facts and figures about Trump’s impact on the economy of Michigan – the Center for American Progress Action Fund has put them all together. But to give your friends and neighbors the full flavor of Trump’s betrayal of Michigan, you should also tell them about how he has let down these people:

We’re not going to lose your jobs anymore. We are going to bring back the automobile industry to Michigan, bigger and better and stronger than ever before.” Grand Rapids, MI 11/7/16

"I'm definitely worried about finances and covering bills." Ryan Herring of Hazel Park, like many others, is struggling to keep his family in their home after losing his job and having trouble obtaining unemployment benefits. “I don't know if things are going to begin to shut back down because these numbers are starting to spike up again,” he said. “So it's very scary."

The unemployment rate in Michigan 24%, soaring past the national average to levels not seen since the Great Depression: Due to Trump’s disastrous response to the crisis, unemployment in the city of Detroit may remain above 12% for the next four years. Trump likes to focus on how Wall Street is doing just fine, but most Americans don’t feel those effects, including Michiganders whose unemployment rate far surpassed the national average, at 21.3% in May and nearly 15% in June.

“Using a big club to take a swing at organized labor.” 2016, Trump told crowds in Dimondale that his election would be a “big, big victory for the factory worker.” It was the opposite. Trump put political cronies on the National Labor Relations Board, rolled back overtime protections, and weakened the collective bargaining rights of federal employees. George Health, a member of the SEIU local, described the changes as "using a big club to take a swing at organized labor." His appointments of Supreme Court Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh led to the gutting of public union rights and has weakened Michigan’s labor protections for cops, firefighters, and other public employees.

Trump promised that he would revive Michigan’s manufacturing industry—he hasn’t: In Warren, while visiting a GM plant, Trump gave a guarantee: “If I’m elected you won’t lose one plant.” The very same plant closed two years later. Businesses that moved their operations overseas have not returned with good-paying jobs either, as the president promised. In 2019, GM workers were forced to go on their longest strike in 50 years−costing them almost $1 billion−to try to accomplish what the president promised to do, but did not: keep good-paying jobs in the US. And even before the pandemic hit, manufacturing was struggling in January 2020. 

“In the long run, we can’t afford to absorb the extra cost of tariffs.” Bob Roth, owner of Michigan-based manufacturer RoMan, is struggling to stay afloat in Trump’s Trade War. In 2017 and 2018, as Trump ran his trade war with China, revenue from exports to China were reduced by almost $10 billion. These disastrous policies contributed to the closure of 15 Michigan farms in 2019.

“Most of us have taken cuts to salary, we’ve laid off 10 people, but we’d made it almost work for two months […] and then the delays started.” For Beth Nolan’s small nurse training company in Grand Rapids, shipping is a necessity. But Trump’s war on the US Postal Service is hurting small businesses in the state: His constant attack on the Post Office, including the efforts of his hand-picked Postmaster General to degrade postal services before the election, are driving up shipping costs and causing delays, making operations for small businesses nearly impossible.

Trump hasn’t improved health care in Michigan; he’s made it worse: Due to loss of business during the shutdown, MGM Grand Detroit will lay off 1,100 workers and has only agreed to continue to pay health-care benefits through the end of September, leaving many families in the lurch. Instead of stepping up to fill that void – and breaking an explicit promise to Michigan families – the Trump administration is currently suing to repeal the Affordable Care Act. This would result in 1 million Michiganders with pre-existing conditions losing their protections and nearly 827,000 Michiganders losing their health care coverage. And under his replacement plan, Michigan families can expect to see a $1,590 monthly premium increase.

Trump lied about higher take-home pay for middle-class Americans, and Michiganders are on the hook: Trump’s $2 trillion tax cut decreased tax refunds overall. Most Michiganders barely saw a paycheck increase, while many actually saw tax hikes. In his four years as president, he has done nothing to raise the wages of working people. He opposed an increase to the national minimum wage, which has remained at $7.25 for over a decade, denying a pay increase to more than a million

Trump has sold Michigan workers and families a bill of goods. He has lied, broken promises, and betrayed their trust. Michigan Democrats must make sure voters know it.