Trump raises prospect of ordering GM, Ford to manufacture ventilators
"FORD, GET GOING ON VENTILATORS, FAST!!!!!!"
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump in tweets Friday seemingly threatened to order — or perhaps did order — General Motors and Ford to start making ventilators to help combat the coronavirus outbreak.
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It was not immediately clear if Trump was invoking his powers under the Defense Production Act to compel the companies to action after he expressed frustration over GM’s unwillingness to follow through on what he characterized as a voluntary pledge.
“As usual with ‘this’ General Motors, things just never seem to work out,” Trump said. “They said they were going to give us 40,000 much needed Ventilators, ‘very quickly’. Now they are saying it will only be 6000, in late April, and they want top dollar.”
“Always a mess with Mary B.,” he added, referring to Mary Barra, the company’s chief executive.
“Invoke P,” Trump said in the tweet.
In a subsequent tweet, he explained that “Invoke ‘P’ means Defense Production Act!”
The White House did not immediately respond to questions about Trump’s intentions.
Trump continued to rail against GM and also brought into the mix in another tweet.
“General Motors MUST immediately open their stupidly abandoned Lordstown plant in Ohio, or some other plant, and START MAKING VENTILATORS, NOW!!!!!!” he wrote. “FORD, GET GOING ON VENTILATORS, FAST!!!!!!
Trump has faced sharp criticism from New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, among others, for not more facilitating the availability of ventilators to areas hit hard by the virus. Just Thursday night, Trump cast doubt on whether Cuomo’s assertion that his state, which has become the epicenter for the coronavirus outbreak in the United States, will need 30,000 ventilators to properly care for the influx of patients anticipated to flood hospitals in coming weeks.
“We have just purchased many Ventilators from some wonderful companies,” Trump said in another tweet Friday. “Names and numbers will be announced later today!”
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<h2>Baker: Federal delays in delivering medical gear ‘enormously frustrating'</h2>
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