Ford Motor Company is disputing GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump’s claims that he altered the automaker’s future expansion plans in the U.S. and Mexico.
“Ford has not spoken with Mr. Trump, nor have we made any changes to our plans,” it said in a statement released Monday.
“We decided to move the F-650 and the F-750 medium-duty trucks to Ohio Assembly in 2011, long before any candidates announced their intention to run for U.S. president,” Ford said.
{mosads}Trump began toasting himself Sunday for convincing Ford to relocate production of the vehicles from Mexico back to the United States.
“Word is that Ford Motor, because of my constant badgering at packed events, is going to cancel their deal to go to Mexico and stay in the U.S.,” he tweeted.
“Do you think I will get credit for keeping Ford in the U.S.?” he asked. “Who cares? My supporters know the truth. Think what can be done as president.”
Trump then said he had specifically influenced Ford’s decision during a rally Monday morning in Atkinson, N.H.
“Frankly, I think I embarrassed them,” he said of the car company. “Now they’re going to build a massive plant in the United States.”
The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported Monday that Trump may have confused two projects — a Ford plant still operational in Mexico and another located in northeast Ohio.
It said that Ford first confirmed that it would open the facility in Avon Lake, Ohio, last year, well before the launch of Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. It then began manufacturing trucks at the plant in August.
Trump’s confusion may stem from an article on Prntly he retweeted Sunday crediting him with Ford’s decision to move a plant from Mexico to Youngstown, Ohio.
The story’s author linked to an August CNN story describing the Avon Lake installation, The Cleveland Plain Dealer said, 90 miles from Youngstown.
Gov. John Kasich (R-Ohio) also dismissed Trump’s claims Monday, arguing he is responsible for Ford’s move to the Buckeye State instead.
“Our country needs real leadership and not empty, false rhetoric,” the fellow 2016 GOP presidential candidate said. “Working as a team, we brought Ford production jobs back from Mexico to Ohio years ago.”
“That’s how things really get done,” he said. “Hard work and teamwork brings results for all the people.”
Kasich helped sway Ford into relocating to Ohio by backing tax incentives there in 2011, The Cleveland Plain Dealer said Monday.
Ford’s presence at Avon Lake is saving an estimated 1,000 jobs there, the news publication added.