(WXYZ) — President Donald Trump is slamming General Motors, saying that the company must begin making ventilators now, and adding the Ford must also start working on ventilators quickly.
In a series of three tweets, Trump said things with GM never work out.
"They said they were going to give us 4,000 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. Invoke 'P'." Trump tweeted.
As usual with “this” General Motors, things just never seem to work out. 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. Invoke “P”.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 27, 2020
"P," he later tweeted, means the Defense Production Act. The act allows the president to rely on private companies for national needs during a crisis — to boost supplies and resources.
General Motors MUST immediately open their stupidly abandoned Lordstown plant in Ohio, or some other plant, and START MAKING VENTILATORS, NOW!!!!!! FORD, GET GOING ON VENTILATORS, FAST!!!!!! @GeneralMotors @Ford
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 27, 2020
He also told GM to open the Lordstown, Ohio plan or another plant to "START MAKING VENTILATORS, NOW!!!!!! FORD, GET GOING ON VENTILATORS, FAST!!!!!!"
Ford later responded in a tweet of their own.
— Ford Motor Company (@Ford) March 27, 2020
Earlier this week, both Ford and GM said they were in talks with the White House to make medical equipment.
Ford later announced it is teaming up with 3M, GE Healthcare and the UAW to quickly expand production of urgently needed medical equipment and supplies for healthcare workers, first responders and patients fighting the novel coronavirus.
Ford plans to assemble more than 100,000 face shields per week and use its in-house 3D printing capability to produce disposable respirators for healthcare workers.
General Motors is teaming up with Ventec Life Systems. Ventec says in a statement, “By tapping their expertise, GM is enabling us to get more ventilators to more hospitals much faster. This partnership will help save lives.”
Additional Coronavirus information and resources:
Read our daily Coronavirus Live Blog for the latest updates and news on coronavirus.
Click here for a page with resources including a COVID-19 overview from the CDC, details on cases in Michigan, a timeline of Governor Gretchen Whitmer's orders since the outbreak, coronavirus' impact on Southeast Michigan, and links to more information from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, the CDC and the WHO.
View a global coronavirus tracker with data from Johns Hopkins University.
Find out how you can help metro Detroit restaurants struggling during the pandemic.
See all of our Helping Each Other stories.
See complete coverage on our Coronavirus Continuing Coverage page.