{"id":8139,"date":"2026-07-27T23:36:27","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T23:36:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/07\/27\/trump-takes-economic-message-to-michigan-amid-dwindling-popularity\/"},"modified":"2026-07-27T23:36:27","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T23:36:27","slug":"trump-takes-economic-message-to-michigan-amid-dwindling-popularity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/07\/27\/trump-takes-economic-message-to-michigan-amid-dwindling-popularity\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump takes economic message to Michigan amid dwindling popularity"},"content":{"rendered":"<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>When factories were roaring, Michigan \u2013 home to three large automakers \u2013 was at the centre of manufacturing in the United States.<\/p>\n<p>So when globalisation took over and many US factories shut down as outsourcing led to the loss of millions of manufacturing jobs in the 1980s and 1990s, the Midwestern state became the symbol of what happens to communities during deindustrialisation.<\/p>\n<section>\n<h2>Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n<p><span>list of 3 items<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span>list 1 of 3<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/7\/27\/why-has-the-us-halted-its-bombing-of-iran\">Why has the US halted its bombing of Iran?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 2 of 3<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/7\/27\/israels-approval-of-limited-gaza-force-a-calculated-manoeuvre-experts-say\">Israel\u2019s approval of limited Gaza force a calculated manoeuvre, experts say<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 3 of 3<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/video\/upfront\/2026\/7\/27\/are-the-us-and-iran-heading-towards-a-forever-war\">Are the US and Iran heading towards a forever war?<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>President Donald Trump spoke in Michigan at a General Motors (GM) plant on Monday to highlight perceived achievements and promote his economic policies \u2013 a move that underscores the political and economic weight of the state.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are doing unbelievably well as a country,\u201d Trump said as supporters held signs reading \u201cAmerican Jobs\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re building more auto factories and more plants than at any time in the history of our country.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><span>Trump\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2020\/9\/30\/trump-aims-for-michigan-victory-over-biden-seeking-another-upset\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">won Michigan<\/a> in 2016 and lost it when he lost the presidency four years later, only to reclaim the state and the White House in the 2024 election.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>But the US president\u2019s approval ratings in the state have been nosediving despite trade policies aimed at reviving industrialisation and providing factory jobs, which would especially benefit Michigan.<\/p>\n<p>An EPIC-MRA poll last month showed Trump\u2019s approval rating at 33 percent less than two years after he won the state with 49.73 percent of the votes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe economy is largely responsible for that,\u201d David Dulio, a political science professor at Oakland University, north of Detroit, said of Trump\u2019s dwindling popularity in Michigan.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are certainly some folks who are concerned on the foreign policy side and a few other marginal issues, but I think the president\u2019s approval generally tracks with economic indicators, and Trump is no exception.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The White House is touting billions of dollars in investments in Michigan\u2019s economy, including expansions by the \u201cBig Three\u201d automakers \u2013 GM, Ford and Stellantis.<\/p>\n<p>Trump has been calling the US the \u201chottest country\u201d in the world, saying his administration is attracting trillions of dollars in capital into the country.<\/p>\n<p>But Dulio said that approach does not resonate with voters.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople don\u2019t connect those announcements with those gaudy numbers to what\u2019s happening in their everyday life like they do gas prices or grocery prices,\u201d he told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n<p>Besides being an industrial hub, Michigan is also a major gateway for commerce between the US and Canada. So Trump\u2019s trade war with Canada has created uncertainty in Michigan, dampening celebrations over Monday\u2019s opening of a new bridge between the two countries over <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/economy\/2026\/7\/24\/canada-marks-gordie-howe-bridge-opening-without-us-after-trade-war-deepens\">the Detroit River<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Last year, the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2023\/10\/6\/us-auto-workers-halt-strike-expansion-after-concessions-on-ev-battery-plant\">United Auto Workers<\/a> (UAW), one of the largest unions in North America, which has traditionally aligned with Democrats and especially rebuked Trump, welcomed the president\u2019s car tariffs last year.<\/p>\n<p>Dulio said that although the push to revive manufacturing may, on paper, appeal to people in Michigan, voters are more focused on their immediate needs.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFolks are seeing their gas prices go up. They\u2019ve got uncertainty around tariffs and the conflict with Iran, and I think it\u2019s a tough environment for the president right now,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>So far, Trump\u2019s policies have not translated into a significant near-term employment boost. According to federal jobs data, the economy lost 2,000 manufacturing jobs in May and added 3,000 in June.<\/p>\n<p>Trump\u2019s low approval ratings in Michigan matter because it is a swing state that may help decide the presidency in 2028.<\/p>\n<p>More immediately, Michigan has an open Senate seat in the November elections \u2013 one of four races labelled as a \u201ctoss-up\u201d by the Cook Political Report.<\/p>\n<p>The seat is currently held by retiring Democrat Gary Peters. If the Republicans manage to flip it, they would likely block the Democrats\u2019 path to a Senate majority.<\/p>\n<p>The Senate race will pit Republican candidate Mike Rogers against the winner of the Democratic primary \u2013 Congresswoman Haley Stevens or public health advocate <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/features\/2017\/3\/27\/qa-the-man-running-to-be-us-first-muslim-governor\">Abdul El-Sayed,<\/a> who are locked in a bitter fight for their party\u2019s nomination.<\/p>\n<p>For now, Trump is trying to make the case for his policies and his party in a state that has been essential to his political rise.<\/p>\n<p>On Monday, he told Michiganders that previous presidents did nothing about other countries \u201cstealing\u201d American jobs.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt long last, Michigan finally has a president who stands up for Michigan auto workers and puts America first,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n<p>The US president also marked his first 100 days in office at a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/4\/29\/trump-delivers-speech-in-michigan-marking-one-hundred-days-in-office\">rally in Michigan<\/a> last year.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTrump is coming here for a reason,\u201d Dulio said. \u201cHe has had success in Michigan in the past. It was arguably central to both of his electoral victories. It\u2019s also sort of ground zero for his trade and manufacturing message.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When factories were roaring, Michigan \u2013 home to three large automakers \u2013 was at the centre of manufacturing in the United States. So when globalisation took over and many US factories shut down as outsourcing led to the loss of millions of manufacturing jobs in the 1980s and 1990s, the Midwestern state became the symbol &#8230; <a title=\"Trump takes economic message to Michigan amid dwindling popularity\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/07\/27\/trump-takes-economic-message-to-michigan-amid-dwindling-popularity\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Trump takes economic message to Michigan amid dwindling popularity\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8140,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8139","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8139"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8139\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}