In November, Alabama went for Donald Trump in a 30-point landslide over Democrat nominee Kamala Harris.
However, last week, AL(dot)com, a website owned by Alabama Media Group, a subsidiary of New York billionaires Donald and Samuel Newhouse's Advance Publications, offered a piece claiming Alabamians voted against their self-interests because Trump has no plan to expand Medicaid, plans to enact tariffs and will tentatively mass deport illegal immigrants.
"Critics say nations targeted by Trump's tariffs would impose their own new taxes on U.S. products. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has warned about such retaliation," Montgomery-based AL(dot)com report Mike Cason wrote. "During Trump's first term, Gov. Kay Ivey said Alabama could lose approximately 4,000 jobs as a result of automotive tariffs the Trump Administration was considering."
Despite Ivey's reported claim, Mazda North American Operations CEO Tom Donnelly envisions a scenario where Trump's tariffs would mean more manufacturing jobs for Alabama.
In a wide-ranging interview with the Detroit Free Press published last week, Donnelly acknowledged Trump's pursuit of tariffs keeps him awake at night.
"We've been spending, certainly a lot of the last six months, scenario planning," Donnelly told the Free Press. "So we have optionality in all those areas, but it's a little gray right now."
According to the article from Detroit Free Press senior auto writer Jamie LaReau, Donnelly said Mazda "could potentially shift some production from Mexico to the plant in Alabama."
The Huntsville facility can add about 50,000 more units annually than Mazda "uses at the moment."
LaReau says moving those jobs to Alabama "would take time to line up suppliers and add workers."
"We're a global company with manufacturing footprint in a number of different markets," Donnelly told the Free Press. "We could look to a number of different things that would continue the momentum we've had and make sure that we're mindful of the cost of exposure there."
Jeff Poor is the editor in chief of 1819 News and host of "The Jeff Poor Show," heard Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-noon on Mobile's FM Talk 106.5. To connect or comment, email jeff.poor@1819News.com or follow him on X @jeff_poor.
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