President Donald Trump spent Thursday afternoon at Peterbilt's Denton truck plant, crediting his tariff and deregulation policies for the truckmaker's recent hiring and campaigning for Ken Paxton, the state attorney general and GOP Senate nominee, who faces Democratic state Rep. James Talarico.
The private event at the company's campus on Airport Road drew a crowd of Peterbilt employees. Trump took the stage roughly an hour after the scheduled 3:40 p.m. start, following a tour of the plant, according to the Denton Record-Chronicle. His speech ran about an hour, The Dallas Morning News reported.
Jobs and tariffs
Peterbilt said it has added 1,000 jobs at the Denton facility, Fox 4 reported. Preston Feight, CEO of parent company Paccar, told the audience the tariffs are "good for our customers" and "good for Peterbilt." The administration placed a 25% tariff on imported medium and heavy-duty trucks last November.
Trump invited Sarah Renshaw, a Peterbilt events coordinator whose family has worked at the company for generations, to speak; she credited the tariffs for the hiring, which she said included her son, according to the Record-Chronicle.
Trump said he was impressed that the plant builds 200 trucks a day, CBS News Texas reported, and joked that he would buy one and drive it himself if the Secret Service allowed it.
"Manufacturing is coming back," Trump said. He also pointed to rollbacks of fuel economy and emissions rules, saying, "I really did it for the trucking industry."
Senate race and reaction
Paxton attended, along with U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, CBS News Texas reported. Trump called Paxton "one of the most loyal people" and repeated his criticism of Talarico, calling him a "crazy lunatic."
The Democratic National Committee said Trump and his vice president, JD Vance, are "desperately trying to rally their base as the midterm elections approach." DNC spokesperson Kendall Witmer blamed the administration's war with Iran for higher prices. The coverage of the visit did not include a response from Talarico.
