President Donald Trump’s attempt to deliver a speech to the Detroit Economic Club, stressing how his administration is tackling the affordability crisis, took several detours to other key issues that are seemingly at the top of his mind.
While speaking at the Motor City Casino hotel on Tuesday, the president addressed a wide range of issues, from his actions to revamp Venezuela’s oil structure and his cancellation of meetings with Iranian officials, to once again excoriating former President Joe Biden’s handling of the economy and attacking Somali immigrants involved in the Minnesota fraud scandal.
The president also renewed a threat to stop federal funding from flowing to sanctuary cities led by Democrats shielding illegal immigrants. Past attempts to cut off federal funding to sanctuary cities have been blocked by a federal judge.
“Starting Feb. 1, we’re not making any payments to sanctuary cities or states having sanctuary cities because they do everything possible to protect criminals at the expense of American citizens,” Trump said. “It breeds fraud and crime and all of the other problems that come.”
Yet Trump did manage to speak about how the White House is delivering on campaign promises and lowering prices for Americans, albeit in a way that cast doubt on affordability as an issue important to Americans.
“One of our top priorities to this mission is promoting greater affordability. Now that’s a word used by the Democrats. They’re the ones that cause the problem,” said Trump, who toured a Ford plant before his remarks.
Trump conceded that Democrats “stick together” while lambasting Republican lawmakers, including Sens. Rand Paul (R-KY), Susan Collins (R-ME), and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), who have shown a willingness to buck Trump’s wishes on influential votes.
The president teased future policies on affordability as economic anxiety remains among the top concerns impacting voters who could hand Democrats control of one chamber of Congress in November. Polling from the Detroit News and WDIV-TV showed that 64% of likely Michigan voters who participated in the poll said household costs had increased in the past year. Of those 64%, nearly 83% said that food and groceries were the category rising the most.
“In the coming weeks, I will be laying out even more plans to help bring back affordability. And again, remember, that’s a fake word by Democrats. Prices were too high. They caused the high price. They never want to talk about affordability,” he continued.
Trump claimed that while attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, next week, he will lay out details about housing policies to alleviate the economic costs that have prevented Americans from homeownership. He also claimed that his administration will crack down on fraud allegations not just in Minnesota but across the United States to help bring down prices.
“Another urgent priority for bringing down the cost of living is to stop the colossal fraud that is bleeding American taxpayers absolutely dry. The fraud is being committed by the Somali population in Minnesota,” he said.
“And California, Illinois, New York, and others are just as bad. Our country has been losing over half a trillion dollars to fraud every single year. But those days are over. We have the best group you’ve ever seen assembled going after fraud,” he continued. “In Minnesota. We’re cracking down on the Somali scams, ending the brazen and shameless theft of taxpayer dollars.”
DOJ investigation into Powell overshadows affordability message
Trump’s Tuesday speech in Detroit comes amid backlash to the Department of Justice’s shocking criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.
Republicans on Capitol Hill have expressed their dismay with the investigation, with Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), a member of the Senate Banking Committee, refusing to vote for any future Fed chair nominees until the investigation is over. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reportedly told Trump that the investigation into Powell “made a mess.”
TRUMP DEALT GOP BLOWS OVER POWELL INQUIRY AMID RISING TENSIONS WITH CONGRESS
Trump was still attacking Powell for not cutting interest rates on Tuesday before he left Washington for Detroit. “JUST OUT: Great (LOW!) Inflation numbers for the USA. That means that Jerome “Too Late” Powell should cut interest rates, MEANINGFULLY!!! If he doesn’t he will just continue to be, “TOO LATE!” ALSO OUT, GREAT GROWTH NUMBERS. Thank you MISTER TARIFF!” he wrote on Truth Social.
The president also claimed that Powell was “billions of dollars over budget [referring to ongoing renovations at the Fed building]. So, he either is incompetent, or he is crooked,” while talking to reporters at the White House. “I don’t know what he is, but he certainly doesn’t do a very good job,” he added.
Trump has said he had no idea of the investigation on Sunday, but the drama has overshadowed Washington even as Trump tries to reset his messaging strategy on affordability ahead of November’s midterm elections.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Trump spoke by phone on Monday after her speech calling for Democrats to embrace economic populism. “I delivered this same message on affordability to him directly. I told him that Congress can pass legislation to cap credit card rates if he will actually fight for it,” the senator said about the call. “I also urged him to get House Republicans to pass the bipartisan ROAD to Housing Act, which passed the Senate with unanimous support and would build more housing and lower costs.”
During his speech, Trump reiterated his desire for interest rates to be cut in the wake of Tuesday’s inflation report, which showed inflation rose 2.7% the year ending in December, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“But in the old days, when you had good numbers, interest rates would go down when you had good numbers, the market would go through the roof,” Trump said. “That’s the way we’re going to make it again. That’s the old-fashioned way.”
“I want somebody that when the market is doing great, interest rates can go down because our country becomes stronger,” he also said about the next Fed chair.
Trump makes a case for the GOP in top battleground state
Michigan is home to several high-profile races this year, including a gubernatorial race, a Senate race that is revealing tensions among establishment and progressive Democrats, and all 13 congressional seats.
Trump claimed his “Liberation Day” tariffs are a benefit to Michiganders, even as the Supreme Court could strike down the levies.
“Everybody makes money with me. I always make money for people. Now it’s tariffs that are making money for Michigan, and the entire country is stronger, and safer, and richer than ever before,” Trump boasted.
The Trump administration announced last year a 25% tariff on all imported vehicles, including those from Mexico and Canada, which is of chief importance to Detroit, known as the Motor City, and Dearborn, Michigan, home to Ford Motor Company headquarters.
“Just as I promised you that I’ve imposed a 25% tariff on all foreign automobiles, I’m standing up for the American auto worker like no president has ever stood up before,” Trump said. “You know those tariffs are keeping the foreign auto workers — now, if they want to come in and build a plant and hire you and hire your friends and your neighbors, that’s great.”
“Auto factories are now seeing more than $70 billion of new investment,” he added before touting Ford’s $5 billion investment in Michigan and Kentucky plants.