MAGA media praise Trump’s tariffs and trade deal with Japan that hurt the US auto industry

Trump warned of a supposed industry “bloodbath” if he wasn't elected, but now he’s seemingly engineered one

Written by Zachary Pleat

Published

President Donald Trump’s MAGA media allies are celebrating his administration’s tariff policies and new framework for trade with Japan amid reporting that they are putting U.S. automakers at a severe disadvantage and costing them billions in profits.

In March 2024, Trump warned there would be a “bloodbath” for the U.S. — which was interpreted as a remark about the auto industry — if he was not elected, even though Trump's previous policies hurt the industry and it had high employment and wage gains during the Biden administration. One of his campaign pledges was to boost the U.S. auto industry, with new tariffs on imported vehicles and components as the center of his plan.

But multiple news organizations recently reported that Trump's tariffs are hitting U.S. automakers hard, costing GM and Stellantis billions of dollars so far this year. Trump’s warning of a “bloodbath” may be coming true, but it is one of his own making.

The New York Times reported:

General Motors said on Tuesday that its profit in the second quarter fell by more than a third, after President Trump’s tariffs cost the company more than $1 billion.

G.M. was the second automaker this week to show the toll that the Trump administration’s trade policies are taking on the industry. Stellantis, the maker of Chrysler, Jeep and Ram vehicles, said on Monday that it lost 2.3 billion euros ($2.7 billion) in the first half of the year partly because of tariffs and other Republican policies.

The so-called Big 3 U.S. automakers — GM, Ford, and Stellantis-owned Chrysler — have additionally criticized Trump’s recent announcement of a trade deal with Japan, which they argue actually disadvantages American companies versus their Japanese competitors. 

According to the publicly available framework of the deal, Japanese automakers can import their vehicles and components more cheaply (at a 15% tariff rate) than American automakers can import or build their own, due to Trump’s 50% tariffs on steel and aluminum, and 25% tariffs on auto parts and finished automobiles from their factories in neighboring Canada and Mexico. 

The perverse incentives built into Trump’s trade and tariff plans were not lost on investors, as share prices for Japanese automakers spiked following the announcement. And on CNBC, contributor and former Ford CEO Mark Fields said that Japan came out ahead on its trade agreement framework with the Trump administration:

MARK FIELDS (CNBC CONTRIBUTOR): For Japan, if this trade agreement or at least outline holds — you never know until the ink is dry — it’s a win for them, right? They get to avoid harsher tariffs, they don’t have any export volume restrictions.

…

From the U.S. automaker standpoint, it’s kind of just like empty calories. Because at the end of the day, we get more access to the Japanese market, but our products are not particularly preferred by the Japanese. And you’ve got this really oddball situation where, as you said, U.S. automakers, they’re at a disadvantage because many of their North American-built vehicles — which do have a lot of U.S. content — face a 25% import tariff coming from either Mexico or Canada, while Japan has a lower tariff at 15%. So you’ve got this situation that North American vehicles with a lot of U.S. content face a higher import tax than Japanese [vehicles] with very little U.S. content.

Yet amid all this reporting on how Trump’s policies are hurting U.S. automakers, MAGA media figures celebrated the Japan trade deal negotiated by Trump, with some also effusively praising his harmful tariff regime:

  • Fox News host Laura Ingraham hosted Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to hype Trump’s recent trade deals with multiple countries, including Japan. Though Ingraham acknowledged “some grumbling from some of our friends over at the big car companies,” she repeatedly stated, “I love tariffs,” after Lutnick reassured her. [Fox News, The Ingraham Angle, 7/24/25]
  • Fox Business host Jackie DeAngelis: “Trump’s tariff diplomacy is working.” The Big Money Show’s panel repeatedly praised Trump’s deal with Japan — Fox Business host Dagen McDowell said “I love the fact” that “the auto industry in the U.S. is upset with this Japanese trade deal.” After another panelist explained that Japanese automakers now have lower tariffs than American companies, she dismissed their complaint: “You made your bed. That’s where you’re making your cars in — south of the border — or your parts are coming back and forth across the border with Canada.” [Fox Business, The Big Money Show, 7/24/25]
  • On Fox & Friends, co-host Brian Kilmeade suggested the Japan trade deal will be good for U.S. automakers. Kilmeade said: “It’s going to be great to see, if I’m working for Chevy, I’ll be able to see my cars sold in Japan for the first time.” (In fact, Chevrolet has for years sold four vehicle models in Japan.) Fox Business host Charles Payne referred to the Japan trade deal as “huge, absolutely huge,” and also hyped the increased revenue being collected from Trump’s tariffs. [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 7/24/25; PolitiFact, 6/17/15]
  • Sharing a link to a NY Times story on Trump’s Japan deal, Fox Business host Charles Payne posted: “Art of the Deal. How do you like them tacos?” [Twitter/X, 7/24/25]
  • Former Fox Business host Trish Regan: “So good! Read our newest take on the Japan deal and why it’s another huge win for USA!” [Twitter/X, 7/24/25]
  • One America News: “BIG TRADE WIN: President Trump announces a historic $550 billion deal with Japan, what he calls a ‘signing bonus’ for America.” [Twitter/X, 7/23/25]
  • Twitchy: “Trump's Triumph: Sealing a Historic Japan Trade Deal for American Prosperity.” [Twitchy, 7/23/25]