Trump to visit Texas plant to tout manufacturing agenda

President Donald Trump is set to visit Peterbilt Motors' manufacturing facility in Denton, Texas on Thursday. The White House hopes this trip will showcase their trade and manufacturing policies. Trump will tour the facility and speak with workers, aiming to highlight the economic effects of tariffs and other trade policies on U.S. manufacturing.

The stop marks Peterbilt as a key facility in the administration's argument that tariffs and other trade policies are boosting domestic production. The administration claims these policies have created more than 1 million private-sector jobs and trillions of dollars in announced investments. They will also emphasize the impact of a 25% tariff on imported medium- and heavy-duty trucks, effective since November 2025, and tariffs on non-USMCA-compliant truck parts.

The administration has credited these tariffs with adding over 1,000 jobs at Peterbilt’s Denton plant and over 2,000 jobs across PACCAR’s U.S. operations. This visit comes at a crucial time for the North American truck manufacturing industry, which is dealing with tariffs, changing emissions regulations, and a freight market that has reduced demand for new equipment.

Despite the administration's claims, government employment figures suggest the broader manufacturing sector has seen a decline. Peterbilt, a division of PACCAR, manufactures medium- and heavy-duty commercial trucks. The company started with 81 employees producing about 2.5 trucks per week, but by 2016, its workforce had grown to around 2,000 and production capacity had increased significantly.