Fox News Anchor Confronts Pro-Trump Senator With Brutal Forecast: ‘Does Not Sound Like a Manufacturing Boom’

Tommy ChristopherMar 17th, 2025, 2:47 pm

Fox News senior White House correspondent and guest anchor Jacqui Heinrich confronted Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH) with a brutal forecast on the effect of President Donald Trump’s trade policies and telling him “That does not sound like a manufacturing boom.”

Trump’s tariff policies have sparked widespread criticism and have been partially blamed for weeks of cratering stock prices. Among those sounding the alarm are automakers who fear increased costs for raw materials and the prospect of retaliatory tariffs shutting off sales.

On this week’s edition of Fox News Sunday, Heinrich pressed Sen. Moreno on the trade policy, and confronted him with a less-than-rosy S&P Global analysis of Trump’s policy:

HEINRICH: Your state is home to nearly 100,000 auto industry workers. General Motors, Stellantis, Honda all have factories there, but you made your living through a chain of Cleveland area car dealerships.

Are you concerned about the tariffs’ impacts on the auto industry?

MORENO: Yes, the impact is going to be very, very positive. We sell about four million cars in America that are made in Mexico and Canada. Those cars were once made in Ohio, in Michigan, in Wisconsin, in Indiana. We need to bring that manufacturing back.

I love Rand. I think he’s a great guy on fiscal issues, but he’s dead wrong on where the auto industry sits. The UAW is firmly behind tariffs. The auto industry understands that localizing production is important.

These are the jobs that make communities thrive. These are good, high paying jobs. We need them in the Midwest.

HEINRICH: Well, there are some warning signs that that boost in American production might not happen at all. S&P Global is forecasting a massive production halt for the auto industry with the probability of an extended disruption at 50 percent.

It reads, “With tariffs now imposed on Canada and Mexico, we expect significant disruption in the region. S&P Global Mobility sees potential for North American production to drop by up to 20,000 units per day within a week.”

“We now expect that the tariff posture messaging and coverage through 2025 will be erratic, placing automakers and suppliers mid or long-term vehicle and facility planning in virtual gridlock.”

That does not sound like a manufacturing boom.

MORENO: Well, you know, look, these experts are funded by lobbyists who have an agenda. Look, it’s very simple. I talked to car company CEOs from all over the world every single solitary week. And the consistent message is, we’re going to build more in America.

Now they asked for more time, but at the end of the day, I haven’t heard one CEO that isn’t planning to add manufacturing capacity.

In fact, here in Cleveland, Cleveland-Cliffs just announced an incentive for their employees, a thousand dollar bonus to buy American made cars. They’re making massive investments throughout their entire footprint. We’re going to see an automotive manufacturing renaissance in this country that’s been long overdue.