Trump in Michigan vows free IVF for all, fight for auto jobs

• Donald Trump uses Michigan speech to propose insurance mandate for in vitro fertilization coverage
• Trump also warns of potential Michigan auto job losses as Chinese company builds plants in Mexico
• Democrats say region is benefiting from federal investments backed by presidential nominee Kamala Harris

POTTERVILLE — Donald Trump on Thursday predicted doom for Michigan's auto industry if he loses the November election but vowed to ensure full cost coverage for in vitro fertilization procedures if he wins. 

The Republican presidential nominee used what had been promoted as a mid-Michigan economic speech to unveil what he called a "major" new national proposal on IVF, which typically costs more than $10,000. 

"Your government will pay for, or your insurance company will be mandated to pay for, all costs" associated with the treatment, he said. 

Trump also said that, if elected, he would "allow new parents to deduct newborn expenses from their taxes," countering a recent proposal by Democratic nominee Kamala Harris to significantly expand a child tax credit for new parents. 

"We want more babies, to put it very nicely," Trump said.

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Trump did not say how he'd fund either proposal, which followed months of warnings by Democrats that conservatives could seek to outlaw IVF after the Alabama Supreme Court in February temporarily suspended the treatment in that state by declaring that created embryos should be considered children.

Democrats have similarly warned that Republicans, who have long publicly opposed abortion rights, could pursue a national ban if Trump wins this fall. 

That issue has been "so overplayed," Trump said Thursday, noting justices he appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court brought decisions on abortion policy "back into the states" by overturning Roe v. Wade. 

Trump's proposal for a possible IVF insurance mandate, which could drive up premium costs, was not immediately embraced by all Michigan Republicans. 

"We don't necessarily agree 100% on everything," said state Rep. Steve Carra, R-Three Rivers, said after the speech. "The idea, in general, that we agree on is we need to have more people born here in America."

But Carly Bostedor, a Jackson voter who attended the rally with her daughter, said she thinks Trump's IVF proposal is an option worth considering.

"If we are willing to pay for birth control and other reproductive-type treatments and such, I don't think it's such a bad thing," she said.

The Harris campaign responded to Trump's IVF proposal by arguing he can't be trusted on the issue.

"Because Trump overturned Roe v. Wade, IVF is already under attack and women’s freedoms have been ripped away in states across the country," campaign spokesperson Sarafina Chitika said in a statement.

'There is only one candidate in this race who trusts women and will protect our freedom to make our own health care decisions: Vice President Kamala Harris.”

Why Potterville?

Trump spoke in Potterville at Alro Steel, a supplier of metals and plastics, where he was flanked by a large sign that read “Job! Jobs! Jobs!”

Among other things, he argued that climate-friendly initiatives backed by Harris helped drive inflation and are limiting the country's energy supply at a time of rising demand. 

“Over the past four years, Kamala and (President Joe Biden) have presided over an economic reign of terror, committing one financial atrocity after another,” he said. 

Potterville, located about 10 miles outside Lansing, is a small city of about 3,000 people with a higher employment rate than the state as a whole but less education and lower earnings, according to Census data. 

It's part of Eaton County, which leans Republican but only narrowly favored Trump in 2020. He beat Democrat Joe Biden by less than a percentage point in the county after topping Hillary Clinton by nearly 5 points in 2016. 

It’s also within Michigan’s 7th Congressional District, where Democrat Curtis Hertel and Republican Tom Barrett are locked in a tight — and costly — race for the U.S. House seat being vacated by Senate candidate Elissa Slotkin.

Barrett is going to be "a great congressman, who I think is going to win,” Trump said. 

Trump's visit was also notable due to the proximity to two major electric vehicle and battery plant projects that are coming to the region – Lansing and Delta Township — after partial subsidies by the federal government. 

Trump has criticized EV policies under the Biden administration but on Thursday focused on new plants Chinese automaker BYD is building in Mexico, suggesting those cars could make their way to the U.S. despite 100% tariffs that Biden imposed on Chinese-made vehicles. 

"With this administration, they won't even know what's happening," Trump said. "They'll take every single job of any autoworkers within two years, maybe three years. Nobody's going to be making cars here."

As president, Trump said he had threatened to impose even steeper tariffs to deter Chinese cars. 

As of July, Michigan was home to about 46,700 vehicle manufacturing jobs, up from 41,500 when Biden took office in January 2020, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Vehicle manufacturing job numbers were effectively flat under Trump.

EV spending

General Motors’ Grand River Assembly plant in nearby Lansing received a $500 million grant to transition to electric vehicle production as part of the Inflation Reduction Act, which Harris cast the tie-breaking vote for as vice president. 

Trump and running mate JD Vance have attacked the law, calling it the “inflation explosion act” and promising to end the sweeping programs designed in part at helping the U.S. confront climate change.

But the federal spending is going to make “a real difference in our local economy," Lansing Mayor Andy Schor, a Democrat, said Wednesday ahead of Trump's visit. 

"It's putting good-paying jobs out there, putting food on the table for workers, and the workers all throughout the area are benefiting," he said, calling it “baffling” that Trump would come to the region to pan EVs.

The federal government is also loaning money to Ultium Cells — a joint venture between GM and LG Energy Solution — to build a new EV battery plant in nearby Delta Township, a $2.5 billion project expected to create up to 1,700 jobs. 

The Ultium plant is among five EV or battery plants that Michigan is also subsidizing. The state has committed a total of $1 billion to the projects that, as of June, had so far created 200 jobs, according to a Bridge Michigan review. 

General Motors has invested more than $12 billion into North American electric vehicle manufacturing and supply chains since 2020, according to Reuters. But automakers have also pulled back on EV efforts, citing sluggish sales. 

Ford announced in 2023 it was postponing $12 billion in EV investments and reported last week its electric vehicle division had lost $2.3 billion in the first half of the year. The automaker offers just three electric models in the U.S. at present. General Motors, too, has delayed construction of an electric vehicle plant in Indiana due to a lack of demand.

'Liquid gold'

Attacking electric vehicles and accusing Harris of wanting to institute an “EV mandate” has become a fixture for Trump on the campaign trail. He has falsely claimed that electric boats are too heavy to float and that the cars can’t function in the cold.

Speaking Thursday, Trump again criticized EV's as "limited," suggesting "they don't go far" and warning China is better equipped to build them because of access to needed materials.

"We have more liquid gold under our feet than anybody else," he said. "It's called gasoline, for what we talk about. And we want to build gasoline propelled cars, but we also want to build hybrids and we want to build electric cars."

While Trump has criticized the Biden administration for nixing the planned Keystone XL crude oil pipeline from Canada to Nebraska, domestic oil production has reached record levels during Biden's tenure. 

The U.S. produced more crude oil "than any nation at any time" in 2023, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Michigan focus

Harris and Trump are effectively tied in Michigan, according to recent polling. As a key state on the path to an electoral college majority, both campaigns have been blanketing Michigan with events.

Trump’s speech Thursday was his third visit to Michigan in just nine days, including an address to a national guard association on Monday and remarks about crime made at the Livingston County Sheriff’s Office last Tuesday.

Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff campaigned for his wife earlier Thursday in Grand Rapids, where he touted recent reports identifying Michigan as "number one in the country for investments" under the federal Inflation Reduction Act.

Harris “is the only candidate on the ballot who is creating a future that works for everyday Americans" and "one where middle class families get ahead," Emhoff said, noting some of her recent proposals, including a plan to crack down on grocery price gouging.

Trump and other critics have likened that plan to "communist price controls," but Emhoff pushed back on that characterization.

"She's pro-capitalism, pro-business, pro-growth and pro-innovation," he said. "She wants everyone to succeed in this economy."

The day before Democrats had a press call with reporters to lambast the campaign to push back on Trump’s economic record.  

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said Harris and running mate Tim Walz are from middle class families and “get it.”

“They know us because they are us. That's why they want to cut taxes for working families and lower our costs. Donald Trump doesn't get it,” Whitmer said.