Trump Takes Credit For Saving Ford Plant That Wasn't Going To Mexico, Also Keeps Earth From Falling Into Sun

Get ready to be sick of winning

Donald Trump is simply brilliant! Thursday night, he announced in a couple of Tweets that after he talked with Ford Motors executive chair William Ford Jr., Ford had decided not to move a factory to Mexico. See what a tough negotiator the man is?

Do you see how ONLY HE CAN FIX IT, AMERICA?

There's only one itty-bitty problem with Trump's record as a savior of American jobs: Ford wasn't planning to close its plant in Louisville, Kentucky, anyway. It had been planning to move production of one model made in Louisville, the Lincoln MKC sport-utility, to another plant -- probably in Mexico, though the decision wasn't final -- so it could expand production of the Ford Escape in Louisville.

They're pretty much the same vehicle anyway. The MKC is simply an upscale version of the Escape, with luxury features including an optional Matthew McConaughey. CNN notes the Lincoln isn't even a major product for Ford, selling only 25,000 units last year, compared to 306,000 Escapes. In its contract with the United Auto Workers last year, Ford had already committed to a $700 million expansion of the Louisville plant where the vehicles are built. A union official said last November that whatever changes occurred at the Louisville plant, employment wouldn't be affected, because "They cannot make enough Escapes."

Ford did say Thursday that it would continue building the Lincoln MKC in Kentucky, so that's a kind of victory for Trump, although it saved zero American jobs, and may simply be a bit more bother for Ford, which still plans to expand production of the Escape, and will now have to do so at other plants instead of Louisville.

Like maybe in Mexico?

[ NPR / CNN / Detroit Free Press via NYT ]