Trump calls GM's CEO in push to reopen Ohio auto plant

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump stepped up his pressure on General Motors to reopen an Ohio manufacturing plant that recently closed and put 1,700 people out of work.

Trump's arm-twisting came in a series of separate tweets on Saturday and Sunday . He capped his weekend rant against the GM with a tweet disclosing that he had vented his frustrations during a conversation with the company's CEO, Mary Barra.

"I am not happy that it is closed when everything else in our Country is BOOMING," Trump wrote. "I asked her to sell it or do something quickly. She blamed the UAW Union — I don't care, I just want it open!"

The union is the United Automobile Workers, which represents the employees who lost their jobs in the Lordstown closure. Trump had previously told a UAW leader, David Green, to "get his act together and produce" for the Lordstown workers.

Green didn't respond to a request for comment Sunday, nor did GM.

Even he said he talked to Barra, Trump was calling on GM to reopen its Lordstown plant or find another owner, while insisting that the Detroit automaker "must act quickly."

He also blasted GM for letting down the U.S. and asserted "much better" automakers are coming to the country.

Trump praised Toyota for its investments in the U.S. in an apparent attempt to depict GM as being less committed to its home country than the Japan automaker.

The Lordstown closure has become a hot-button issue in an area of Ohio that is expected to be critical for Trump if he seeks re-election as promised in 2020.

Trump prevailed in Ohio in the 2016 election, a win that helped him win enough electoral votes to become president despite losing the popular vote to Hillary Clinton.

That may be one reason why Trump joined a coalition of Ohio lawmakers in efforts to get the...