But Trump doesn't care — he wants to continue rolling back Obama-era progress on environmental issues.President Donald Trump, as he has demonstrated again and again since he was running for president in 2016, knows nothing about the modern auto industry. Worse, his handlers in the administration also appear to know nothing.
In short order, Trump gave the automakers what they wanted. The companies had also done the math on other looming Trump preoccupations — NAFTA, trade conflict with China and Europe, a possible border tax — and decided that it was worth it to ignore his bluster.Trump's views on the US auto industry are childish and intended only to rally his supporters
The important number is 50 mpg, the level of future fuel economy that California and a consortium of four big car makers have agreed to achieve by 2026 . That's close to what the Obama regulations would have required — 51 mpg — but higher the 37 mpg that Trump regulators now seek.