Can you guess what happened next?
President-elect Donald Trump took credit for it. But a spokeswoman from parent company Fiat Chrysler Automobiles says Trump had nothing to do with the decision:
“This plan was in the works back in 2015,” FCA spokeswoman Jodi Tinson told ThinkProgress. “This announcement … was just final confirmation.”
When asked directly if it was true that politics and the election had no influence on the announcement, she said, “Correct.”
On Monday, Trump took credit for the announcement in a series of tweets:
It's finally happening - Fiat Chrysler just announced plans to invest $1BILLION in Michigan and Ohio plants, adding 2000 jobs. This after...
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 9, 2017
Ford said last week that it will expand in Michigan and U.S. instead of building a BILLION dollar plant in Mexico. Thank you Ford & Fiat C!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 9, 2017
In fact, the deal dates back to 2015 UAW contract negotiations. In a statement, Fiat-Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne said the moves "have been under discussion with Dennis Williams and the rest of the UAW leadership for some time."
Notice a pattern here?
Last week Ford announced it was canceling a $1.6 billion Mexican expansion to instead make a $700 million investment in its Michigan plants that will create 700 jobs. Trump took credit for that move, saying it “is just the beginning”:
Thank you to Ford for scrapping a new plant in Mexico and creating 700 new jobs in the U.S. This is just the beginning - much more to follow
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2017
Ford CEO Mark Fields later clarified the move as strictly a business decision, telling CNN Ford "didn't cut a deal with Trump" (though he acknowledged the move was a "vote of confidence" in the Trump administration.)
Similarly, at the North American International Auto Show this weekend General Motors CEO Mary Barra defended the company's Mexican production as a business decision that was put in place long before Trump's campaign.
“This is a long-lead business with high capital-intensive investments, decisions that were made two, three and four years ago,” she told reporters.
