The Scoop
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is heading to Ohio and Detroit later this week for an automobile-focused trip aimed at touting the Trump administration’s economic agenda.
Alongside EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin and USTR Ambassador Jamieson Greer, Duffy will visit a Ford and Stellantis plant in Ohio on Friday before attending the Detroit Auto Show on Saturday, an administration official told Semafor.
The trio of Trump advisers is also expected to meet with plant leaders and executives during the trip, billed as the “Freedom Means Affordable Cars” tour.
The visit follows President Donald Trump’s trip to Detroit today, where he’s slated to talk about affordability and the economy in the critical swing state of Michigan. It also coincides with a ramped-up effort from the White House to focus on the US economy, as polling shows that voters are increasingly beleaguered by the cost of living.
Know More
Duffy and other administration officials are expected to highlight the administration’s efforts on affordability, particularly as it concerns car manufacturing and choices for consumers. In December, the Transportation Department moved to roll back Biden-era policies on vehicle fuel economy standards.
The administration has argued that former President Joe Biden is to blame for much of the public’s frustrations with the economy, while urging voters to wait for tax breaks from last year’s party-line Republican law to take effect this spring.
Trump has also enlisted the help of Vice President JD Vance, who visited Pennsylvania at the end of 2025, as the administration seeks to bolster its flagging economic favorability ahead of the midterms.
Sending Duffy, Zeldin, and Greer on the road is another effort to assuage voter concerns — even as Trump remains more acutely focused on foreign policy than domestic.
Notably, Trump’s speech in Detroit on Tuesday is expected to mention Iran, though the main focus of the remarks will be about the economy, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters.
Notable
- Trump turned to an unlikely source on Monday to discuss affordability ideas: Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
- Republicans have been urging Trump to prioritize the economy over foreign policy, Semafor reported.