Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg sharply criticized President Donald Trump during an appearance at the 2026 Detroit Auto Show, criticizing him over a recent incident at a Ford factory and accusing him of undermining American autoworkers and manufacturing jobs nationwide.
“President Trump did literally what I believe he’s been doing figuratively for some time, which is give autoworkers the finger,” Buttigieg said during a live conversation at the auto show.
His comments came after a video surfaced appearing to show Trump mouthing an expletive and raising his middle finger toward a heckler while touring Ford’s River Rouge plant in Dearborn, Michigan.
The clip, first published by TMZ, shows Trump briefly turning toward someone in the crowd and mouthing “f*** you” twice before raising his middle finger and walking away.
The heckler, reportedly a Ford employee, shouted insults at the president and was later suspended.
The worker told media outlets he had “no regrets” about the incident, which occurred during Trump’s visit to the factory on Tuesday.
Buttigieg, speaking at the Mobility Global Forum during the Detroit Auto Show, tied the moment to a broader critique of Trump’s labor and economic policies.
“He’s been a union buster,” Buttigieg said. “He has presided over the loss of manufacturing jobs in this country.”
Tariffs, Manufacturing, and Missed Goals
Buttigieg also criticized the Trump administration’s trade and tariff policies, saying they failed to boost American manufacturing.
“As an objective matter, tariffs have failed to deliver an increase in manufacturing employment in this country this year,” he said.
“Matter of fact, over the last year, manufacturing employment has gone in the wrong direction.”
He added that while tariffs have raised prices on goods, they have not helped workers:
“You would think if we did a dramatic, radical, disorienting, pro-domestic manufacturing policy move, you would at least continue and hopefully beat the level of manufacturing employment and growth that we’d seen. And instead, the reverse happened.”
The White House responded to the Ford incident, defending Trump’s reaction.
Communications Director Steven Cheung said in a statement to Fox News Digital, “A lunatic was wildly screaming expletives in a complete fit of rage, and the president gave an appropriate and unambiguous response.”
EVs, Policy Volatility, and Industry Impact
Buttigieg, who served as secretary of transportation from 2021 to 2025, said the auto industry is at a major turning point, with electric vehicles (EVs) and autonomous technology reshaping the market.
He urged consistent federal support for innovation, saying sudden policy shifts from one administration to the next create “whiplash” for automakers.
“Billions of dollars of value were wiped out and written off due directly to a policy change that didn’t have to happen,” he said.
“I get that this is an administration that will never be willing to subsidize clean energy in the same way that it subsidizes legacy energy. That just is what it is. But it could at least do this in a way that is less disruptive to companies.”
He added: “The president cannot stop electric vehicles from advancing to become the leading automotive technology, but he can stop America from being the leader in that technology.”
Partnerships Key to Staying Competitive
Buttigieg also called for stronger collaboration between the federal government, industry, and universities to lead in EVs and automation.
He praised institutions like Michigan State University for advancing research and said that government support should be more stable and less influenced by political swings.
He emphasized that U.S. leadership in global mobility is not guaranteed:
“Even though I say that’s true by rights, it’s actually not automatically true without a lot of intention and a lot of work.”
Autonomy, AI, and the Future of Jobs
On autonomous vehicles, Buttigieg argued the technology has advanced to the point where “a typical automated vehicle that’s on the road today is safer than you or I would be behind the wheel.”
He also addressed growing fears among workers about job loss due to automation and artificial intelligence.
“If we keep trying to chase things one narrow skill set or one industry at a time, we may miss an opportunity to equip workers as well as citizens to be ready for whatever the changes are that are going to come,” he said.
The Role of Trust in Public Policy
Closing out his remarks, Buttigieg reflected on trust as a central issue in both technology and public policy.
He compared trusting strangers at a stoplight to the broader social trust needed to maintain democracy and economic stability.
“Nothing works without trust,” he said.
“And as a country, as a society, we obviously have some deficits in social and political trust that need to be quickly healed if we are going to function, let alone lead in the 21st century.”
Will He Run Again?
When asked if he would run for president again, Buttigieg replied simply: “I don’t know.”
He ran for the Democratic nomination in 2020, making it as far as the early primaries before dropping out and endorsing Joe Biden.
The Detroit Auto Show appearance placed him back in the national spotlight at a time when the intersection of technology, labor, and politics is growing increasingly tense, especially in states like Michigan, where both jobs and votes are on the line in 2026 and beyond.
IMAGE CREDIT: ”Pete Buttigieg, 2023 US-Canada Summit” by Eurasia Group, via Flickr. Licensed under CC BY 2.0. Image adjusted for layout.