WATCH: President Trump Invokes the Defense Production Act
After weeks of his critics demanding that he use the Defense Production Act, President Donald Trump announced that he would use the act to order General Motors to manufacture ventilators.
“Today, I signed a Presidential Memorandum directing the Secretary of Health and Human Services to use any and all authority available under the Defense Production Act to require General Motors to accept, perform, and prioritize federal contracts for ventilators,” Trump said in a statement on Friday.
Earlier on Friday the president signaled that he was close to issuing the order when he tweeted about GM and their negotiations with the federal government. . .
As usual with “this” General Motors, things just never seem to work out. They said they were going to give us 40,000 much needed Ventilators, “very quickly”. Now they are saying it will only be 6000, in late April, and they want top dollar. Always a mess with Mary B. Invoke “P”.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 27, 2020
General Motors MUST immediately open their stupidly abandoned Lordstown plant in Ohio, or some other plant, and START MAKING VENTILATORS, NOW!!!!!! FORD, GET GOING ON VENTILATORS, FAST!!!!!! @GeneralMotors @Ford
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 27, 2020
Invoke “P” means Defense Production Act!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 27, 2020
The Trump administration has been criticized by some for what appears to be a lack of medical equipment to tackle the pandemic that was months in coming. The administration has argued that previous administrations, both the Obama and the last Bush administration, are to blame for the shortages. (Read more from “WATCH: President Trump Invokes the Defense Production Act” HERE)
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