Trump parades all-electric pickup truck that will be built in Ohio as he talks up the manufacturing 'comeback' in must-win state
President Donald Trump held a surprise event Monday debuting an all-electric pickup truck on the White House's South Lawn manufactured in Lordstown, Ohio - an important swing state.
'We've been working on this very long and very hard because General Motors left the plant,' Trump explained as he showed off the 2021 Endurance. 'But they went in, and they have an incredible vehicle.'
The Endurance was built by Lordstown Motors, a company that took over the old Lordstown GM plant, with some financial help from GM, to build a truck that has an electric motor on each of the wheels - technology that marveled the president.
President Donald Trump held a surprise event Monday on the South Lawn showing off the new Endurance, an all-electric pickup truck manufactured in the former General Motors plant in Lordstown, Ohio
President Donald Trump speaks about the truck's technology alongside Lordtown Motors CEO Steve Burns at the White House Monday
The president's event was held in advance of Tuesday night's first presidential debate, which is also taking place in Ohio
President Trump takes a look at the 2021 Endurance, produced by Lordstown Motors in Ohio
'And this is the only one that does this in the world, and it has a lot of advantages,' Trump said.
Steve Burns, the CEO of Lordstown Motors, explained that the design enabled the truck to have 'true four-wheel drive,' but it also freed up space in the front.
'Yeah, so it's the first pickup truck with a trunk. It's in the front,' he told reporters gathered on the South Lawn. 'So you call it a "frunk," but you have to pronounce it carefully, right?' he joked.
The truck event wasn't originally on the president's schedule for Monday, as he gears up to debate Democratic nominee Joe Biden for the first time Tuesday night in Cleveland, Ohio.
Ohio is basically a must-win state for the president and has only gotten competitive in the last few months, as Biden has been several points ahead in September polls.
In 2016, Trump won the state easily over Democrat Hillary Clinton, beating her by 8 points.
In 2012 and 2008, President Barack Obama won Ohio over GOP nominees Mitt Romney and John McCain, respectively.
Trump has long played up trying to keep American manufacturing jobs stateside so it was a blow when GM announced that it would no longer make Chevy Cruzes at the Lordstown plant in November 2018.
'Well, the area was devastated when General Motors moved out, and then we worked together, and we made the deal on the plant,' Trump said.
'But beyond the plant - I mean, it's incredible what's happened to the area. It's booming now. It's absolutely booming and really great,' he added.