In a bid to curry favor with the upcoming Trump Administration, car companies, tech firms, and other big businesses are making large donations of money and vehicles to President Donald Trump’s second inauguration fund. One of those companies is General Motors.
“The first term, everybody was fighting me,” Trump said during a press conference at Mar-a-Lago. “In this term, everybody wants to be my friend.”
Indeed, many big businesses, especially automakers, want to be on Trump’s good side. The once-and-future U.S. President has floated ideas about tariffs up to 200 percent on cars coming from Mexico, a 60 percent tariff on all goods from China (like the Buick Envision), and scrapping the federal EV tax credit.
According to Reuters, GM and Ford have both pledged $1 million and vehicles to Trump’s inauguration fund in an effort to get his attention before he even returns to the Oval Office. “(Given) Ford’s employment profile and importance in the U.S. economy and manufacturing, you can imagine the administration will be very interested in Ford’s point of view,” said Ford CEO Jim Farley.
Even overseas automakers that build cars in North America are kissing the ring. Toyota, which builds the Tacoma midsize pickup in Mexico, has announced a $1 million contribution to Trump’s inauguration fund. The biggest donor so far is Uber, pledging $2 million, while other blue-chip American companies, including Intuit, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, AT&T, and Stanley Black & Decker, have made significant contributions to Trump’s inauguration. Furthermore, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman have each written $1 million checks to the 47th president’s swearing-in.
GM hasn’t made a public statement about the contribution to the inauguration fund, but GM CEO Mary Barra said in an interview earlier this month that she is “very goal-aligned” with Trump. “We want a strong economy,” Barra said at the time. “We want a strong manufacturing base in this country. We agree automotive jobs are important. I think there’s a lot that we could work on. But there’s going to be changes. But we’ve worked with many administrations for decades.”
Comments
Confirms that Mary can read…… the writing on the wall.
Mary and Jim have beeen grabbed by the p*ssy.
Should use the money to fire Mary and hire a new CEO. Adios Biden!! LOL!!
Aww, do women in power scare you, boy?
Trump is now owned by the large corporations and billionaires.
Curious to see if you feel the same about the current President, Mr. Biden? His inauguration fund received donations from Microsoft, Google, Enterprise (car rental), Anthem (health insurance), Boeing….the list goes on. Let me guess….his donors were ‘different’ and he was never ‘bought’.
No, they are all corrupt. Trump is just the most corrupt. It’s only been a few weeks, but it looks like he sold out MAGA and the Presidency to Elon for $270M. We now live in an oligarchy.
Jack – Ha ha ha! Let me guess you get your news from CNN and MSNBC.
it is ok Jack, your Govt. assistance check you get every month will still be there.
So Elon isn’t using his new found influence to try to make the NTHSA and their investigation into his Full Self Driving fraud go away?
America was always run by corporations. Since the early 1900s, nothing has changed. Or do you forget the Morgans, Rockefellers, Rothschilds, Vanderbilts, and Carnegies? The presidents of back then also were owned by them.
The only difference now is aside from the legacy industries these men pioneered add new industries playing in the game like tech companies, military industrial companies (think Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, etc.), pharma, and several multi-industry conglomerates (think Koch Inc., Cargill, etc.). Oh and don’t think this is a US only phenomenon. I just read an article about the growing power of Chaebols in Korea and how they related to the Martial Law ordeal in December.
Well judging by the effect anti trust laws had on those old Robber Barons, their money didn’t buy much influence.
Blackrock, statestreet, Vanguard. Between those 3, they have ownership in just about every company that is public in the stock market.
You sound like another TDS sufferer!
The orange one’s nickname is Don the Con, appropriately.
Trump is worth over 7 billion! He doesn’t need any money, unlike Biden who had a net worth of $200k when he became VP and now is worth north of 30 million.
Trump is the POTUS because he believes in America. Shoot Trump he comes back stronger and harder!
😂 you really believe that?
Let’s see if you are still singing his praises in a year.
When eggs continue to rise with Carrothead in power, you MAGA Idiots will continue to blame Biden!
…because things were sooooo good the last 4 years. Geez, Bob.
yea Rocketbob, Bidum was the reason for the price increases, but he was not blamed for it by his brainwashed followers. All those Brainwashed followers of Biden will change their stance now and blame Trump for everything. You are proof of that.
Lol TRUMP lives in your head…. TDS sufferer!
if GM can gives him US$ 1 Million, GM can donate us € 500 000 too
Drill baby!
The US currently produces more oil under Biden than in any time in history. There’s literally no benefit to drill more. The price of crude is already low and not very profitable for oil companies. “Drill baby drill” was a nonsensical campaign promise for people who don’t know any better.
We do not produce enough. More production we blood the market and hurt Russia’s income fund war. We could also Hurt Chinese income.
If we had not restricted pipelines and new wells it is likely the Ukraine war would never have happed. Same for the Russian pipe line that Biden approved.
Sorry this goes much deeper than just gas prices. It is power and as long as America controls oil prices we will hold control of the many troubled leaders.
Yes, I’ve heard this one before, as it is right out of the soviet communist handbook. I’m guessing you want the tax payers to subsidize your overproduction and market manipulation? How about we let the actual companies and market decide supply and demand?
Reality. You will eat your words in bout 2 years. Oil is not “cheap” right now as you seem to think it is.
Might as well spend it now because with all those tariffs and no EV incentives, GM might be toast.
Companies donate to all parties. Nothing new.
As for GM Nary gas them in a better place than most automakers.
I think that all companies should stay out of politics, no matter which side of the aisle is asking for money, or endorsements. I good rule of thumb is to not go out of your way to piss off potential customers.
bryce, exactly. Once a company shows their political side, they piss off 50% of their customers.
Wish a president would just take the oath then say “Let’s get to work”.
Forget the parades, galas, rear-smooching and everything else our multi-day coronation has become. Yes GM wouldn’t get to donate vehicles for it, but that shouldn’t be necessary in the first place.
@5500 , that is what Trump will do. Get down to work. His first day there will be alot of changes.
PATHETIC. By the way, Ford and Toyota are involved too…
I will not TOUCH a new car from Ms Mary even IF it was given it to me for free anytime soon, nor will I buy.
Says the guy/girl that bent over backwards to defend everything Mary this past year.
Submitting in advance. We’ll have the best oligarchy money can buy. Oh and inflation… you ain’t seen nothing yet.
Sooo Bitter. I actually love it.
If Trump follows through with his dumb@ss threats to put huge new tariffs on everything from Mexico and Canada, you will see inflation like nothing ever before. You realise how much of the car parts in US made vehicles come from those two countries? Or how much electricity you get from Canada.
You’re weirdly okay with these past 4 years…
GM should be putting the $1M into workers’ pockets instead of wasting it. If I didn’t like Chevies so much, I’d ditch them all for this slap in the face. Sucking up never looks good and they may find out it was a total mistake and that’s $1M thrown away right into the pocket of the pos and they get nothing out of it.
Twump baaaaaad pos, Bidens gooood. Neanderthal.
They are not “kisding his ring”. They are kisding his @$$!
“kisding.” Is that like ringding?
Mary longest serving GM CEO and totally out off touch with what the customers wants in their transportation needs. Show her the door and get put someone in who understands EVs are not the only answer and hybrids and ICE are still needed to excite the end user. Time to get real!
If that is the case, then why does GM lead vehicle sales year after year?
Poor USA, they elected,as president, a convinced criminal with four trial on the way, which no judge will ever take the chance to locking him up. What a justice???? nobody believe in the US justice anymore, this is why one guy decided to shoot an insurance company CEO in New York. Many will take the real justice in their own hand. Very sad that GM will give 1 million to that crook
Most of the charges, against Trump are bogus and part of the political circus used to continually pit left VS right.
Really no surprise here GM and Mary are all about money. They now build more than half their vehicles in other countries and they are afraid of a Trump Tariff. Bring the jobs back to the USA where they started and you will not have to worry about sending gifts to the incoming President. Time for Mary to move on, the profit margin is built in without her being there.
GM has been building cars in Canada since 1953. This has nothing to do with Mary.
Why piss the money away on him? Try keeping your employees on the payroll.
Because they need to get his, ear to stop him from devastating the car industry with his proposed tariffs on Mexico and Canada.
I feel Mary Barra is an outstanding executive and has done a great job of leading GM through many challenges during her tenure. It has to be very challenging to lead an automobile manufacturer when government regulations and government financial incentives seem to change so often. It feels like Ms. Barra has bet the farm on EVs and it may very well pay off in the long run. However, under her her leadership GM continues to excel with some outstanding ICE vehicles – Silverado/Sierra; Suburban/Tahoe/Yukon/Escalade; Corvette and more.
I reserved a Lyriq, Silverado EV, and Hummer EV two years before they were built. Then exercised the reservation and bought the Lyriq. It is simply outstanding after driving it one year and 23,000 miles. GM EVs are really, really good and I’ll buy another. GM ICE vehicles are really, really good, but doubt I’ll buy another as the EVs are so much fun and so simple to own and operate.
Shrill
I assure you that I am not a shill.
I am a very satisfied owner of GM ICE vehicles and EVs.
I know from personal experience what it is to own, drive and maintain ICE.
I know from personal experience what it is to own, drive and maintain EV.
The Lyriq is so much more fun and enjoyable to drive. All I’ve done for maintenance in 23,000 miles is rotate wheels/tires.
Under Ms. Barra’s leadership GM stock has appreciated about 50% in 2024.
$300K and other unaffordable Cadillacs, $125K Hummers, $96K Silverados, and on and on.
No hybrids, no average Joe sedans to compete with the foreign auto makers, nothing but Buick SUVs, and on and on.
Changing the GM logo to lowercase for million of dollars for absolutely no reason.
I respectfully disagree about Mary being a good CEO.
Blame CAFE for the demise of the sedan, not Mary.
A CEO’s job is returning value to the shareholders, whether we like it or not. Nobody can argue that this hasn’t been achieved with steady net profits quarter after quarter, increased stock price and solid dividends. That is the beginning and end of her job description. GM went all in on EVs but have now delayed their electrification targets, admitted hybrids are needed and bringing them to market shortly. So not only is GM financially solid, it is also basically future-proof with ICE, EVs, hybrids, retail, commercial, defense and energy products.
I’d say she’s doing a great job
GM is probably trying to get them to hurry up on relaxing the CAFE standards.
Should I pull the trigger on my reserved Blazer EV SS? My mechanic is talking me out of it. What a guy.
He makes his money on ICE vehicles.