Trump downplays GM plant closings, repeats false claim about steels plants

Win McNamee/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump, in a tweet early Thursday morning, downplayed General Motors’ announcement it was shuttering several U.S. factories and laying off thousands of American workers, claiming it was an anomaly among the broader “booming” U.S. economy.

In doing so, though, the president repeated his frequent false claim that steel plants are opening all over the country.

The claim was repeatedly debunked by fact-checkers from ABC News and other news organizations during his time on the campaign trail, and the White House has declined to elaborate on what the president is actually referring to, although U.S. Steel has said it has restarted some blast furnaces that were previously dormant prior to Trump’s steel tariffs.

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