Trump's first year back in office brings big changes for Michigan

Tuesday marked one full year since President Donald Trump began his second term in office.
 
It’s been an active year. While trying to make good on a campaign promise to bring Michigan manufacturing back, Trump raised tariffs on a wide range of goods from many countries. Last week in Detroit, Trump said it's working.
 
“Since I took office, Ford has announced it will invest $5 billion across its Michigan and Kentucky plants, creating 4,000 new jobs. GM is moving production of the Chevy Blazer and Equinox from Mexico,” Trump said.
 
Trump’s critics accuse him of destabilizing the economy.
 
Democrats say the tariffs and other federal policies, like the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, are costing Michiganders more. They see affordability as a winning issue in November’s general elections and argue the stats are on their side.
 
Tim Hogan is a senior advisor with the Democratic National Committee.
 
Hogan is promoting research from The Budget Lab at Yale University that predicts lower earning households will have fewer resources because of tariffs and cuts to social safety net spending.
 
Other analysis from KFF, formerly the Kaiser Family Foundation, suggests the expiration of Affordable Care Act tax credits would lead to around 300,000 fewer Michiganders having health insurance.
 
“The reality that people are facing in their everyday lives is that things are getting more expensive. And it’s as simple as that, and they don’t see help coming,” Hogan said.
 
Trump’s supporters see a different picture. Michigan Republican Party Chair Jim Runestad said the president has cut taxes and inflation has started to stabilize, even if consumer sentiment doesn’t reflect that.
 
“The growth in economy is increasing, the wages (are) increasing. But it takes time. All of this takes time to accomplish before they’re going to really start seeing that and feeling that when they go shopping,” Runestad said.
 
The numbers tell a complicated story.
 
On one side, state numbers show private sector jobs and wages grew in Michigan in November compared to a year prior. But, for Michigan manufacturing, overall jobs and average hourly pay were both slightly down.
 
That’s as auto parts suppliers have struggled to keep up with tariffs and lower demand for electric vehicles following policy changes. For example, General Motors laid off 1,140 workers from its Hamtramck Factory Zero plant earlier this month.
 
Whichever side wins the messaging war could see success in November. In a recent poll from WDIV and the Detroit News, voters ranked jobs, the economy, and taxes as their top issues for November’s general election.
 
The White House press release celebrating Trump’s year back in office lists several immigration-related policies first in a list of what it calls wins. Immigration and Customs Enforcement may have arrested over 2,300 people in Michigan last year.
 
Runestad welcomed the crackdown.
 
“It costs a tremendous amount of money taking care of people here illegally and, for those who are competing with them, it depresses their wages,” Runestad said.
 
Others have had harsher words for what’s going on.
 
Christine Sauvé is with the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center. She described the ramped-up enforcement as “lawless.”
 
“You know, agents wearing masks or arresting people in unmarked cars, arresting people before even verifying their status,” Sauvé said.
 
Immigration and Customs Enforcement has defended its tactics as keeping the country safe and argued people in the U.S. without permission from authorities need to leave. Runestad said the picture around immigration enforcement isn’t as simple as it's described by people opposed to the Trump administration's tactics.
 
“I think they're turning it into a morality play when there's a lot more nuance," he said, adding that ICE "is doing the best that they can do under this circumstances to try to enforce the law."
 
Other Midwest states, like Illinois and Minnesota, have seen massive influxes of federal agents visibly confronting people on the street and on doorsteps.
 
Sauvé says ICE and border patrol have been active in Michigan too, even if they’ve been quieter. That’s partially with the help of local law enforcement, despite only seven Michigan agencies formally agreeing to take on immigration enforcement duties. Sauvé said other departments have been getting involved anyway.
 
“They are being more hostile to immigrant residents and unnecessarily calling ICE or CBP for things that they don't need to be involved in,” Sauvé said.
 
She said citizens are feeling the pressure too as the impact spreads throughout communities. Still, immigration has ranked relatively low among issues voters most care about in November. And the administration has so far stood by its positions.