Rolls with Goodyear: Donald Trump's limousine
Photo: SAUL LOEB / AFPDuring the years of his presidency, Donald Trump has repeatedly taken part in skirmishes with corporations - now the tire manufacturer Goodyear has drawn the wrath of the president. Trump believes that the company disadvantages its supporters.
The company had banned the red caps with its advertising slogan "Make America Great Again" - "MAGA" for short, the president wrote on Twitter as a justification. He would also be in favor of replacing the Goodyear tires on his presidential sedan with products from another US manufacturer, Trump said.
Anti-racism is okay, but campaign noise is not
The trigger for Trump's actions were media reports that during a training session at a Goodyear plant in the state of Kansas clothing was declared to be "unacceptable" with the slogan.
According to a photo of a presentation slide with the Goodyear logo posted on the Internet, symbols of the "Black Lives Matter" movement denouncing police violence against blacks and the "Pride" mark for tolerance towards sexual minorities were allowed. On the other hand, statements in support of the counter-movements "Blue Lives Matter", which supports the police, and "All Lives Matter", which argues that racism against blacks should not be highlighted, were not permitted.
The "Beast" needs Goodyear
"Buy better tires for a lot less money!" Tweeted Trump. As a result, photos were circulated on Twitter showing the Goodyear lettering on the tires of his presidential limousine. According to earlier media reports, the tires of the vehicle with the nickname "Beast" are a high-tech custom-made product that would not be easy to replace.
Goodyear is an American company based in the state of Ohio with more than 60,000 employees. Trump's promise also includes defending the interests of the local economy. First Trump's spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany and then himself justified the boycott call in the course of the day by banning symbols from "Blue Live Matters". Employees should be able to wear what they want, Trump said. In his original tweet, however, he only referred to the "MAGA" slogan, which mainly appears on baseball caps.
Share under pressure
Goodyear emphasized that employees are generally asked to refrain from expressing support for political parties or campaigns. On the other hand, working for equality and against racially motivated injustice is allowed. Goodyear supports both equality and the police.
The Goodyear share closed with a minus of a good two percent - after Trump's tweet it initially plummeted, but then largely recovered from it in the course of trading.
Icon: The mirrorbeb / dpa
