From auto jobs to transgender women in sports: 4 takeaways from Trump’s latest stop in Michigan

POTTERVILLE, MI – From transgender women in sports to fully subsidizing a fertility procedure, former President Donald Trump’s remarks Thursday billed as a speech on the economy covered a wide range of topics.

The Republican presidential nominee spoke for about 70 minutes Thursday, Aug. 29, inside a metal processing and distribution facility in Potterville, a city of about 3,000 people just southwest of the state’s capital.

Several hundred people were in attendance.

Related: Trump labels 2024 election a choice between ‘communism and freedom’ in Michigan speech

The visit was Trump’s eighth to the state this year and comes on the heels of his last visit Monday, when he gave a speech in Detroit to the National Guard Association of the United States.

Michigan is seen as a key state for both campaigns to win to secure the presidency this fall. Polls show Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate, in a close race for the state.

Here are four takeaways from Trump’s remarks at Alro Steel:

Fully covered in vitro fertilization treatments

Trump announced a new plan to have either the government or insurance companies fully cover the cost of in vitro fertilization treatments, a procedure used to help a woman become pregnant.

Families with newborns would also be eligible for new tax deductions, he pledged.

“Under the Trump administration, your government will pay for, or your insurance company will be mandated to pay for, all costs associated with IVF treatment — fertilization for women,” he said. “Because we want more babies, to put it very nicely.

“And for this same reason, we will also allow new parents to deduct major newborn expenses from their taxes so that parents that have a beautiful baby will be able — so we’re pro family. Nobody’s ever said that before.”

Trump didn’t outline any specifics on eligibility requirements for fully covered IVF treatments, nor did he go into further detail about the tax deductions.

Harris campaign spokesperson Sarafina Chitika said late Thursday that IVF access is under attack in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court, three of them justices appointed by Trump, overturning Roe v. Wade in 2022.

Democrats have knocked Republicans during the campaign season over abortion and IVF access.

“Donald Trump’s own platform could effectively ban IVF and abortion nationwide,” Chitika said. “Trump lies as much if not more than he breathes, but voters aren’t stupid. Because Trump overturned Roe v. Wade, IVF is already under attack and women’s freedoms have been ripped away in states across the country.

“There is only one candidate in this race who trusts women and will protect our freedom to make our own health care decisions: Vice President Kamala Harris.”

The American energy president

Trump labeled himself the “American energy president” and announced a goal to cut Americans’ energy costs in half within his first year of taking office.

He touted gas prices being lower under his presidency than President Joe Biden’s and positioned himself as a champion of fossil fuels, as opposed to Harris.

“To achieve this rapid reduction in energy costs, I will declare a national emergency to allow us to dramatically increase energy production, generation and supply, which ‘Comrade Kamala’ has destroyed. She’s destroyed it,” Trump said.

“Starting on day one, I will approve new drilling, new pipelines, new refineries, new power plants, new reactors and we will slash the red tape. We will get the job done.”

A number of people in the crowd held campaign signs reading “DRILL BABY DRILL!”

The increase in energy supply won’t just result in lower costs for average Americans, he said, but also will benefit industries, like artificial intelligence.

“Nobody else is even going to come close. They won’t even try. And if they did try, nothing would happen,” Trump said. “Under President Trump, America’s future will be energy abundance, energy independence and soon we will be energy dominant. We’re going to be dominant, much more so than Russia.”

Transgender women in sports

While Trump’s speech largely covered the economy, industry and inflation, he also veered into other topics, including multiple mentions and a brief rant on transgender women in sports.

At different times in his speech, Trump accused Harris of wanting “men to play in women’s sports” and said she’s one of the leaders in that push.

He pledged to keep “transgender insanity out of our schools” and “keep men out of women’s sports” if elected.

Near the end of his speech, Trump went on a three-minute-long rant about transgender women in sports.

He falsely accused two Olympic boxing gold medalists – Imane Khelif of Alergia and Lin Yu-Ting of Taiwan – of having “transitioned.”

The pair of boxers were born women, but rumors about their gender were sparked by the International Boxing Association disqualifying them from world championships last year after a sex chromosome test had ruled both of them ineligible, according to Reuters.

Trump went on to talk about men competing in women’s weightlifting.

“Weightlifting records set many years ago. They put one-eighth of an ounce on each side — 18-year-old record,” Trump said. “They go out there. They’re strong women. They can’t quite make it.”

He said then a man would compete who says he’s never weight lifted before and he would beat the record by “hundreds of pounds.”

“The whole thing is crazy and nobody wants to complain,” Trump said. “You know the women, like the swimmers, they don’t like to complain. They’re really afraid to complain, because they’ll be accused of bad things, bad things.”

A vision for Michigan

Trump said he would bring auto jobs back to the state from places like Mexico, making Michigan the “greatest state in the world for automaking.”

“My vision is for a middle class that will be the envy of the entire world. It’s gonna happen and it’s gonna happen fast,” he said.

Trump appeared to float putting high tariffs on some imported vehicles to dissuade businesses from building automotive plants outside the U.S.

According to Trump, China was building “numerous” automotive plants in Mexico near the border but ceased construction after Trump, then president, threatened high tariffs on them.

“I told them, ‘If you do that, we’re going to put tariffs on at 200%, 150%,’” he said. “‘You’re never going to sell one car in this country,’ and they didn’t build them.”

He said they resumed construction after Trump lost to President Joe Biden in 2020.

“We’re not going to let it happen. They can build their plant. They’re not going to have any cars coming into this country,” he said. “If they want to build a plant, they can. They’re going to build it in Michigan or at least some place in our country.”

If he isn’t reelected, Trump said Michigan won’t have any auto workers within two or three years and that no one will be making cars in the state.

In a press call Wednesday, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer accused Trump of shipping Michigan jobs overseas, “including thousands of auto jobs.”

The former president also criticized the performance of electric vehicles but said people have a right to choose what they drive and shouldn’t be forced to buy one.

“I’m all for electric cars but not all of them,” Trump said.