In this dawn of the Golden Age, let us give thanks to Him for the blessings of each new job, each new investment, each new factory. Bear witness:

Praise be, for surely it was Trump’s poster board of liberation that inspired GM. My moderate bipartisan Congressman Mike Lawler tells me so.

Hang on. Who is this “Rapid Response 47” being amplified by Mike Lawler? Oh, it’s the “Official Rapid Response account of the Trump 47 White House. Supporting @POTUS‘s America First agenda and holding the Fake News accountable. MAGA!” Of course Mike Lawler is a Follower.

So, a simple MAGA message from a simple politician who happens to be thinking about a run for Governor of NY. Maybe we should do our own research.

Is this really “production coming back home,” as proclaimed by Mike Lawler? The Tonawanda Propulsion plant, located just north of Buffalo, has been around for 87 years and employs 1625 people, supporting the production of V8 and other engine technology. GM has invested $2.9 billion in this plant in the past decade alone and is the 10th largest employer in the region.

Note that GM announced a similar half-billion-dollar investment in its Flint, Michigan plant to produce the same engine in January 2023, well before the Golden One flipped the tariff switch. A decision to upgrade the Tonawanda plant for the production of the next generation V8, and protect a significant existing workforce, doesn’t necessarily sound like bringing jobs back home. Perhaps it’s “leveraging the footprint we have,” as GM says.

GM’s CEO, Mary Barra, has been artful in managing the PR around this. She plays the Trump game like they all do, praising his leadership and applying a Trump-centric narrative to business decisions to gain favor. So in this case, the Tonawanda announcement shows GM’s “commitment to strengthening American manufacturing and supporting jobs in the U.S.”

Barra said that the tariffs announced by Trump will cost GM $5 billion, but she nevertheless thanked him for adjustments he made to the tariffs earlier this month, saying “We look forward to maintaining our strong dialogue with the administration on trade and other policies as they continue to evolve.” As the conservative Wall Street Journal Editorial Board wrote, “It’s a strange form of capitalism when a corporate CEO praises a policy that costs her shareholders $5 billion…. But when Mr. Trump claims the power to impose or withdraw tariff punishment on a whim, Ms. Barra must seek his majesty’s favor.”

Mary Barra has also said that she needs “clarity” and “consistency” before making major investment decisions. She’s hardly getting that this week, as a federal judge ruled that Trump exceeded his authority on Liberation Day.

Not surprisingly, the press release on Tonawanda from New York’s current Governor, Kathy Hochul, provides a different spin than Mike Lawler, and more context:

The project will support 870 jobs at Tonawanda Propulsion, including 177 jobs that were deemed at risk. Empire State Development will provide up to $16.96 million in performance-based Excelsior Jobs Program tax credits in return for investment commitments to move the project forward.

So maybe millions in tax credits from NY played some role, in addition to GM leveraging existing GM resources and deep community ties at Tonawanda?

Beyond the politics of it all, it is troubling to witness another Trump Effect — the turn away from electric vehicles. As GM’s CEO said shortly before Trump took office, back when she was Biden’s good friend:

We fundamentally believe EVs are better. Instant torque. They enable great design…We really think the consumer — when there’s a robust charging network and when EVs are affordable and they’re in these segments that fit their lifestyles—they’re going to choose EVs.

But now we watch Trump kill investment in that robust charging network and strip away EV tax incentives, shifting momentum back to carbon-spewing V8 technology, as at Tonawanda. All while the World Meteorological Organization warns us this week that the world will hit an irreversible tipping point of 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels in 2 years, much sooner than expected. And glaciers continue to collapse.

How easily we forget that an Obama administration loan of $465M in 2010 enabled Elon Musk and Tesla to develop the Model S, “the first zero-emission, zero-gas, full-size electric vehicle on the market.” Oh, the places we could go.

The Trump Effect. Much like Lake Effect Snow in Buffalo. We find ourselves traumatized, blinded and buried by rapidly shifting winds with little warning.

The Trump Effect. It brings you politicians like Mike Lawler, with simple messages for simple minds and short attention spans, driven by Rapid Response 47.

Let’s get to work on Rapid Response 48.