GM denies Trump claim that CEO blames UAW for Lordstown 'closure'

President Donald Trump

A spokesman for General Motors denies President Donald Trump's contention that GM CEO Mary Barra blamed the UAW for closing the Lordstown Assembly Plant.

In one of a series of Twitter messages about Lordstown over three days, the President said on Sunday that he “just spoke” to Barra about the Lordstown plant and she blamed the UAW union.

Responding to questions from 21 News, GM spokesman Dan Flores denied the President's contention.

“Mary did not blame the UAW for the unallocation of Lordstown or any of the other affected plants,” wrote Flores. “Changing customer demand drove our unallocation decisions.”

The UAW and GM have pointed out that the Lordstown plant is not closed, but say that there are no current plans to bring a new product there. Both the union and company say the future of the plant will be decided during upcoming contract talks.