Trump Officials Visit Ohio as Energy Costs Skyrocket & Hundreds of Ohio Autoworkers Are Laid Off
January 16, 2026
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Toledo, Ohio — Today, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, and Ambassador Jamieson Greer are visiting the Ford Motor Company Ohio assembly plant and the Stellantis Toledo Assembly Complex.
Reporters attending the press conferences with Administrator Zeldin and Secretary Duffy should ask how Trump and Republicans are making life more affordable when they are:
- Rising energy costs— Ohio utility rates have jumped 14% since Trump took office. Some Ohio residents have seen utility bills increase by as much as 44%.
- Cutting jobs— In October 2025, GM announced it would cut 550 jobs at its Ultium battery manufacturing facility in Lordstown, Ohio, and temporarily lay off 850 workers.
- Ending consumer EV credits— Americans saved more than $3.3 billion with these tax credits in 2023 alone, which expired thanks to Trump’s GOP budget bill.
- Ceding EV market share— China was trying to get U.S. EV manufacturing tax credits struck down at the World Trade Organization, which the Trump Administration has now done. Now China is surging ahead in EV market share in Europe and across the globe.
Earlier this week, Trump said affordability was “a fake word by Democrats,” after previously calling the affordability crisis a “hoax”. The only hoax at play here is Trump administration officials claiming their actions are making anything cheaper for Ohioans.
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