DETROIT — Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump pitched Michigan business leaders Thursday on a series of steps he hopes can reinvigorate what he says is a "collapsing" U.S. auto industry, while also criticizing Detroit, the city where he was delivering his remarks.

Trump, the former president, said he wants to revisit his own 2020 trade agreement with Mexico and Canada, impose more aggressive tariffs and institute large tax breaks for automakers who build factories and do research and development domestically. He also pledged to make interest on car loans fully tax deductible, which he suggested would help both carmakers as well as consumers dealing with high prices.

"Your car industry is going out of business. It's going out of business," Trump told members of the Detroit Economic Club, but said a recent "nightmare" for U.S. automakers could come to an end if he is elected in November.

About 1,000 people were in attendance at Thursday's meeting of the Detroit Economic Club at the MotorCity Casino Hotel. In the two-hour speech, Trump labeled Detroit, Michigan's largest city, as more "developing" than "most places in China," at one point calling it a "once great city." At another point, he used Detroit to characterize what will happen to the country if his Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, wins the Nov. 5 election.

“It will be like Detroit. Our whole country will end up being like Detroit if she’s your president," Trump said. "You’re going to have a mess on your hands.”

At the conclusion of the speech, he portrayed Detroit as still struggling and said he would create a "Michigan miracle," and the "stunning rebirth" of the Motor City.

Trump's comments quickly drew pushback from politicians in Detroit, a Democratic stronghold. U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar, D-Detroit, said the city has "a booming economy, diverse culture and some of the best people in America.

"Donald Trump: keep Detroit and our people out of your mouth," Thanedar said. "We will elect Kamala Harris."

In the past, Trump has criticized Detroit, which is a Democratic stronghold politically, over the 2020 presidential election, which he lost to Democrat Joe Biden. In another White House speech on Dec. 2, 2020, Trump labeled Detroit "corrupt." Biden got 94% of the overall vote in the city while Trump got 5% in November 2020.

Tariffs are central to Trump's plan for the auto industry. He said if foreign leaders or CEOs complain about them, he'll tell them to "build it in America, built it in Detroit, build it in Dearborn, or Lansing, or Grand Rapids, or Flint."

Trump has proposed a 20% tariff on an unknown number of imported good and raw materials. Harris has criticized his plan, likening it to a national sales tax on consumer goods.

In his remarks, Trump described tariffs as a form of taxation that would boost the federal treasury and help pay down the national debt. And he said they would spur onshoring of manufacturing in the U.S. and create jobs.

"They're going to come here and they're going to build here because they don't want to pay those stiff tariffs," Trump said. "... Build it right here in Detroit. You don't have any tariffs. ... You don't have any taxes or tariffs or anything."

As president in 2020, Trump heralded replacing the North American Free Trade Agreement with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. Now, Trump said he will formally notify Mexico and Canada of his intention to invoke the six-year renegotiation provision of the deal to address concerns he has about China making cars in Mexico to sell into the U.S.

He said he would be willing to up tariffs dramatically in order to prevent Chinese automakers from importing cars into the United States from factories in Mexico. And that he would implement new protections that could thwart China and other countries efforts to "smuggle their products and auto parts" into the U.S. indirectly.

Trump riffed on a number of other auto-related topics during his talk. He said he used to drive two Pontiac GTOs, and enjoyed them. He called UAW President Shawn Fain "your stupid union leader," and "a disaster." He suggested hydrogen-powered vehicles weren't a good idea, because they could be dangerous and explode "violently," describing a person blown up, which drew nervous laughter from the audience.

On EVs, Trump said they make sense for certain consumers — noting his support from Elon Musk, who heads EV maker Tesla Inc. — but not for semi-trailers or other trucks, because they would make the trucks too heavy, they wouldn't have enough range, and the batteries would take up too much space. Some EV pickups, like the Chevrolet Silverado, built in Michigan, do have impressive ranges of 400 miles or more.

Trump called the idea of mandating EVs "demented," suggesting it makes sense for the United States to continue to focus on producing gas-powered vehicles, since China already has a leg up on EVs and access to materials for batteries.

"Vote for Trump, and the gasoline engine will be for a long time," Trump said.

Businessman John Rakolta Jr., chairman of the Detroit-based Walbridge construction firm, which builds auto plants, asked Trump questions on stage following the former president's speech. Rakolta, a longtime GOP mega donor, was Trump's ambassador to the United Arab Emirates. And he said he had offered Trump guidance on the auto industry, dating back to the celebrity real estate tycoon's first White House campaign 2016.

"Mr. President, thank you," Rakolta said as the question-and-answer session ended. "I'm looking forward to all of those auto plants I'm going to be building back here in Michigan in the Midwest."

Trump's visit to Michigan — his 12th of the year — came 26 days before the Nov. 5 election and as Democrats, including Vice President Kamala Harris, are increasingly criticizing his record on manufacturing jobs and his plans for the auto industry.

Democrats have contended that Trump's opposition to government programs aimed at promoting electric vehicles will put at risk a $500 million federal grant that Democratic President Joe Biden's administration has awarded to convert a General Motors Co. assembly plant in Lansing for EV production.

Asked about the grant on Tuesday, Trump's running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, said Republicans want to "invest in Michigan auto workers as much as possible" but he didn't directly answer whether a Trump administration would honor the award.

"I think that Michigan auto workers deserve more than the table scraps of Kamala Harris' green new scam," Vance said.

On Thursday, Trump did not address the future of GM's Cadillac plant in Lansing — and Rakolta did not ask about it.

In a virtual press conference Thursday morning, United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain criticized Vance for using the phrase "table scraps" and said Trump would cede the future of the auto industry to China.

"For someone running for president of the United States to say, basically, 'I give up. I'm not even going to try because we can't compete with someone else,' that's someone that does not believe in the country, does not believe in the ability of the working class in this country," said Fain, who has endorsed Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris. "We've developed everything in this country. We were the first people to send a man to the moon. ... The sky is the limit for this country."

During a Sept. 17 town hall event in Flint, Trump said the United States has gasoline, while China has the materials needed for EVs.

“Why are we making a product that they dominate?" Trump said. "They are going to dominate."

"You will not have a car industry left, not even a little bit of a car industry," the former president added.

During his remarks in Detroit on Thursday, Trump did not talk about whether the U.S. should compete with China in the global EV market. Rakolta, the presiding officer of the economic club meeting, also didn't ask Trump about China.

In August, according to preliminary numbers, Michigan had 165,800 jobs in auto vehicle and parts manufacturing.

Harris visited Michigan last week for a rally in Flint, where she accused Trump of putting auto industry jobs at risk. Her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, will be in Macomb County on Friday.

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