Biden travels to Illinois auto plant; will meet with Pritzker, UAW President

President Joe Biden went to Chicago on June 28 to give a landmark speech on “Bidenomics, ” only to learn in private during the trip about a soon-to-close auto factory, news that was a challenge to his vision for the country.

The prospect of a shuttered Stellantis plant in the small city of Belvidere became an immediate priority for Biden. He ordered up an economic analysis and spoke to company officials about the plant, according to White House officials. The president wanted to show that his policies could deliver for workers, rather than repeat the decades of factory closures that had gutted parts of the Midwest and fed into a deep political divide.

On Thursday, Biden will visit Belvidere to showcase that same auto plant, which has reopened as part of the settlement of a targeted strike by the United Auto Workers union.

The reopening “goes to the heart of who he is, the heart of his vision for the country and how he's led,” said Jen O’Malley Dillon, White House deputy chief of staff.

Stellantis, the maker of Jeep, Dodge and Ram vehicles, agreed to hire back 1,200 employees to build a pickup truck and to add another 1,300 workers for a battery factory.