Fact check: JD Vance touts jobs in Michigan, says gas prices will drop

Vice President JD Vance spoke in Michigan Wednesday, covering economic policy, immigration and more
During comments in Auburn Hills, Vance acknowledged Iran conflict causing high gas prices, but said the pain would be ‘temporary’
Critics called Vance’s speech ‘damage control,’ arguing President Donald Trump’s agenda contributed to higher prices and uncertainty

Gas prices may remain high in coming weeks because of an ongoing conflict in the Middle East, Vice President JD Vance told a Michigan audience Wednesday, calling it a “blip” that President Donald Trump is actively working to address.

“We’ve got a rough road ahead of us for the next few weeks, but it’s temporary,” Vance said in a speech at the EDSI manufacturing facility in Auburn Hills Wednesday, where he touted Trump administration tax cuts and efforts to boost the economy.

Gas prices have skyrocketed across the country in recent weeks after the US and Israel launched an initial attack on Iran, prompting Iranian officials to block access to a crucial strait through which roughly a fifth of the world’s crude oil passes.

In Michigan, AAA reports the average cost per gallon of gasoline was $3.87 on Wednesday, up nearly $1 from a month ago, when unleaded was $2.92, and up from $3.02 this time last year.

RELATED:

In a roughly one-hour event that included questions from the press, Vance acknowledged that “people are hurting” because of higher gas prices but predicted a relatively speedy resolution.

“It’s not going to last forever,” he said. “We’re going to take care of business. We’re going to come back home, and when that happens, you’re going to see energy prices come back down to reality.”

Vance correctly noted that gas prices went even higher under former President Joe Biden, reaching a record $5.22 per gallon in Michigan in June 2022 amid a post-pandemic surge and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

But prices had gone down well before Trump returned to the White House, with Michigan prices averaging $3.14 the day before he took office.

Referencing the ongoing conflict in Iran, which has retaliated with strikes on US bases in other Middle Eastern countries, Vance later said the president “is not interested in getting us…in the kind of long-term quagmires that we’ve seen in years past.”

Critics were unconvinced that the Trump administration could effectively reverse price hikes on gas, utilities and other goods.

Jesse Lee, a senior advisor for the group Climate Power, called Vance’s speech an attempt at “damage control.” And Michigan Democratic Party Chair Curtis Hertel said Trump’s agenda is putting lives at risk, hurting Michigan’s manufacturing industry and increasing costs of living.

“No amount of lip service from Vance will make up for the fact that Republicans have made life less affordable for working families,” Hertel said.

Vice President JD Vance speaks at EDSI Cables, Wednesday, March 18, 2026, in Auburn Hills, Mich. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Fact check: A manufacturing renaissance?

Vance’s Michigan speech, which largely focused on economic issues, came amid ongoing uncertainty for both the state and nation, even as the Trump administration claims progress on boosting manufacturing jobs.

Standing beside a banner read “Jobs! Jobs! Jobs!,” Vance praised workers at the Auburn Hills facility for helping maintain what he called an “American Renaissance in manufacturing.”

“The fact that we added over 2,000 manufacturing jobs in this state since Donald Trump became president is a testament to what you all make possible,” he said.

Michigan added about 2,100 manufacturing jobs last year between the start of February and the end of December, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Trump took office on Jan. 20, and almost all that growth took place during February, his first full month. From March to the end of 2025, Michigan lost 5,500 manufacturing jobs.

As a candidate in 2024, Trump promised that Michigan would “dominate like never before” if he was elected. That would be a tall task. The state boasted more than 800,000 manufacturing jobs through much of the 1990s. It had about 596,600 as of the end of 2025.

Including January of 2025, the state lost about 1,600 jobs in the manufacturing sector over the year. Nationally, the US added about 116,000 jobs but lost about 113,000 manufacturing jobs, along with another 7,000 this year through February, according to preliminary federal data.

Will Gordie Howe Bridge open on time?

Vance also touched on the Trump administration’s relationship with Canada roughly a month after Trump threatened to delay opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge, which is expected to open this spring.

The bridge will connect Detroit to Windsor and is expected to be a vital economic artery between the two countries, as well as a major economic boon for Michigan, which shares ownership of the bridge with the Canadian government.

Asked whether he believed the bridge should open on schedule, Vance did not directly answer the question. He said the administration views Canada as an important ally and trading partner, but he reiterated Trump’s stance that the country has taken advantage of the US for “far too long” on trade.

“Our hope with Canada — and I think we’ll get there eventually — is, we’re going to get to a point where Canada treats our workers fairly, we treat their workers fairly, and they’re going to be a true ally and a true friend,” he said.

Fact check: Americans ‘hundreds and hundreds of dollars richer’

With roughly eight months to go before the November midterm elections, Vance sought to draw contrast between congressional Republicans supporting Trump’s agenda — who currently hold majorities in both the US House and Senate — and congressional Democrats.

In defending Republicans’ work in Washington since Trump took office, Vance credited leadership with making the average US resident “hundreds and hundreds of dollars richer” through policies like the “Big Beautiful Bill,” a wide-ranging tax and spending plan passed last year.

“Let’s support the people who made us richer, more prosperous and more secure,” he said.

The nonprofit Tax Foundation expects Americans to see an average tax cut of $2,300 in 2026, which is the first to reflect changes in the Big, Beautiful Bill.

Through early March, federal tax refunds for 2025 income were averaging $3,676 nationally, up 10% from $3,324 at the same point in 2025, according to IRS data.

However, the new law is projected to be a net negative for some lower-income individuals and families because it will cut future spending on Medicaid and food assistance, thereby increasing household costs, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

According to federal data, the median weekly earning for full-time wage and salary workers in the US was $1,204 in 2025, up $45 from $1,159 in 2024, although last year’s government shutdown limited data from October.

Vance attacks Democrats on immigration

In his speech, Vance was especially critical of Democrats’ opposition to the Trump administration’s aggressive deportation efforts, accusing party leaders of defending illegal immigration.

The Trump administration has surged federal forces to some metropolitan areas like Minneapolis — where US citizens Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good were killed during separate encounters with immigration enforcement — as it works to identify and deport people living in the US without legal permission.

Deportations surged in Michigan last year, and the state is home to one of the largest Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facilities in the Midwest.

Michigan has largely avoided the kind of high-profile conflicts between federal agents and citizens seen in Minnesota, though tensions have increased as ICE moves forward with plans to build a new detention center in southeast Michigan.

Asked about concerns raised by local governments over a planned ICE detention center in Romulus and an office in Southfield, Vance did not directly address the question. But he indicated local cooperation with federal agencies would help the process run more smoothly.

“So long as we’ve got the cooperation, and so long as we’re working as a team, the chaos that you see in Minneapolis, it’s not going to happen,” Vance said. “It only happens we’ve got broken and dysfunctional political leadership that tries to stop us from doing our jobs.”