Trump says Ford, GM in talks with defense contractors about possible weapons production

President Trump says major automakers Ford and General Motors are in talks with defense contractors about possibly repurposing some plants for weapons production.

On Monday, reporters asked Mr. Trump about his upcoming meeting with the contractors on Wednesday. In response, the president said, "We're building many plants throughout the country. They're dealing with General Motors. They're dealing with Ford, but I know General Motors is all excited about building weapons. They have some plants which they're going to switch over. We're going to build weapons."

The president added, "We're really in a big, strong economic push to do the weapons and some of the car companies, if they have any excess capacity, they're making a deal to build missiles."

Mr. Trump said some of those weapons include the Patriot and the Tomahawk missile.

Mr. Trump also said defense contractors had spent about $51 billion on stock buybacks instead of on plants. In January, the president issued an executive order seeking to curtail dividend payments and stock buybacks. 

"They are not allowed to take any more stock buybacks," Mr. Trump said.

CBS News Detroit reached out to both Ford and GM for comment.

In a statement, a Ford spokesperson said, "The U.S. and other North American and European governments recognize that Ford produces highly capable vehicles like Super Duty and Ranger Super Duty with integrated software, which could provide high-volume, off-the-shelf defense ground vehicles. We are currently in discussions with multiple governments and potential partners, though no projects have been finalized."

General Motors spokesperson said in a statement, "The Department of War has facilitated discussions between GM and companies, including Lockheed Martin, on opportunities to increase the speed, scale, and resilience of the defense industrial base. We are moving quickly to identify solutions to critical needs, but we have nothing further to share at this time."

More than a week ago, defense manufacturer Lockheed Martin and GM Defense announced a collaboration to "accelerate the delivery of critical capabilities and innovation by combining Lockheed Martin's defense production expertise with General Motors' advanced industrial capabilities in high-rate commercial manufacturing and engineering."

Both entities say they will focus on expanding production through commercial manufacturing and infrastructure, strengthening defense supply chains and advancing manufacturing and design capabilities.

Lockheed Martin was one of the companies that met with Mr. Trump on March 6, days after the war with Iran began.