Trump's toothless industrial policy

Shouting at businesses on Twitter is not a productive strategy for keeping them open

President Trump.
(Image credit: Illustrated | Jeff Swensen/Getty Images, Tom Brenner/Getty Images)

General Motors is shutting down several American plants, cutting thousands of jobs in the process. One of those factories, in Lordstown, Ohio, went dark just a few weeks ago, taking almost 1,000 jobs down with it. And President Trump is not happy.

Over the weekend he took to Twitter to blast GM and its CEO, Mary Barra: "Because the economy is so good, General Motors must get their Lordstown, Ohio, plant open, maybe in a different form or with a new owner, FAST!" Late last year, when news of GM's plans first broke, the president even threatened to revoke unspecified subsidies in retaliation.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Jeff Spross

Jeff Spross was the economics and business correspondent at TheWeek.com. He was previously a reporter at ThinkProgress.