Trump: Tesla, GM, Ford Approved to Produce Ventilators

President Donald Trump speaks during a briefing in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, on on March 21, 2020. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

President Donald Trump said that General Motors, Tesla, and Ford have been approved to produce ventilators to combat the CCP virus surge in the United States.

“Go for it auto execs, lets see how good you are?” he wrote on Twitter on March 22.

“Ford, General Motors and Tesla are being given the go ahead to make ventilators and other metal products, FAST!” he added, tagging several top Republican officials, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), as well as incoming White House chief of staff Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.).

The Epoch Times refers to the novel coronavirus, which causes the disease COVID-19, as the CCP virus because the Chinese Communist Party's coverup and mismanagement allowed the virus to spread throughout China and create a global pandemic.

Last week, Trump signed the Defense Production Act to marshal U.S. companies to manufacture medical supplies, adding that he will begin to implement the law on March 27.

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said that General Motors said its factories can build ventilators, while Elon Musk, Tesla's CEO, wrote that Tesla will produce "ventilators if there is a shortage.”

Asked last week if he could name any of the private companies that would manufacture supplies for the federal government, Trump told reporters: "I will be, but first I want to get approval. I assume they’d like it but I’ll let you know. One company that has openly stated it is General Motors."

Experts have warned that a lack of medical supplies puts workers at risk of contracting the virus while also overwhelming hospitals with an escalating number of cases. A number of state governments have requested the federal government to provide more masks, ventilators, and other supplies.

GM on March 20 said it's collaborating with Ventec Life Systems, which makes a ventilator, to determine how it can help the firm increase its production.

“We are working closely with Ventec to rapidly scale up production of their critically important respiratory products to support our country’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. We will continue to explore ways to help in this time of crisis," Mary Barra, GM chairman and CEO, said in a statement.

At the same time, Vice President Mike Pence, leader of the White House's coronavirus task force, said March 21 that the Department of Health and Human Services had ordered "hundreds of millions of N95 masks" for health care workers across the United States.

The United States has documented more than 33,000 cases of the CCP virus, leading to more than 400 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University as of March 22.