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Trump blasts GM for planned layoffs, threatens to cut subsidies

Posted at 1:05 PM, Nov 27, 2018
and last updated 2018-11-27 15:05:05-05

WASHINGTON – The day after General Motors announced the company is shedding up to 14,000 jobs and closing 5 plants in North America, President Trump now says he is “very disappointed” and is “looking at cutting all subsidies” for the auto giant.

The company is citing an expected economic downturn in 2019 as they are planning the restructure to focus more on autonomous and electric vehicles.

The five plants that may be closed are in Detroit, Michigan; Lordstown, Ohio; Oshawa, Ontario; Warren, Michigan; and Baltimore, Maryland.  Those facilities manufacture sedans for GM, including the Chevrolet Volt, Chevrolet Impala, Chevrolet Cruze, Buick LaCrosse, Cadillac CT6 and Cadillac XTS.

While the majority of the impacted employees are expected to be white collar workers, some 6,000 factory workers could also lose their jobs or be transferred to plants that manufacture trucks.

The plan aims to save the company $6 billion a year by the end of 2020.

President Trump lashed out at General Motors CEO May Barra for not announcing the closure of the companies plants in Mexico and China, adding “the U.S. saved General Motors, and this is the THANKS we get!”

Monday’s announcement did mention at least three plants outside of North America will close by the end of 2019, which includes the previously announced closure of a facility in South Korea.