Automakers Line Up To Hang Out With Trump And Mohammed Bin Salman – Jalopnik

Happy Friday! It’s November 21, 2025, and that is The Morning Shift — your day by day roundup of the highest automotive headlines from all over the world, in a single place. This is the place you may discover a very powerful tales which can be shaping the way in which Americans drive and get round.

In this morning’s version, we’re taking a look at automaker execs’ social climbing, in addition to Foxconn’s newest EV plans. We’ll additionally have a look at the New York aluminum plant that is managed to catch fireplace once more, and CATL’s plans for lithium mines in China. 

Saudi Arabia has a laundry record of human rights violations to its title, so in fact it is a main good friend to the United States. President Donald Trump invited crown prince Mohammed bin Salman over for dinner earlier this week, and he introduced another buddies to fill out the desk — representatives from Ford, Tesla, GM, and extra. From the Detroit Free Press: 

What began with a dinner on the White House ended with main offers associated to the Middle East this week for U.S. automakers.

General Motors CEO Mary Barra, Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Ford Motor Co.’s Executive Chair Bill Ford all attended President Donald Trump’s dinner on the White House earlier this week, in line with the visitor record obtained by the Detroit Free Press from the White House Press Office ― an occasion replete with executives from finance, know-how, personal fairness and power sectors.

The subsequent day, the U.S. and Saudi Arabia signed an settlement via an change of letters guaranteeing Saudi Arabia acknowledges U.S. federal motorized vehicle security requirements as totally assembly its automotive security necessities ― a transfer that the Detroit Three declare clears a hurdle to extra U.S. auto gross sales within the Middle East.

And now, Stellantis is pursuing the opportunity of making vehicles in Saudi Arabia.

Nvidia’s CEO was additionally in attendance, amongst others. Not in attendance? Jamal Khashoggi, the journalist killed by Saudi Arabian brokers allegedly performing below direct orders of the royal household. 

Automakers within the United States are doing their greatest to desert EVs — an method that is led to the U.S. falling behind on what will definitely turn into the dominant automotive sector. But whereas we’re dodging, ducking, dipping, diving, and dodging the longer term, different nations aren’t fairly so backwards. Take Foxconn, the battery maker out of Taiwan that is largely recognized for client electronics. The firm’s made no secret about its curiosity in EVs, and now it is placing its cash the place its mouth is. From Automotive News:

Foxconn is famend as the large contract producer of every little thing from Apple iPhones and Dell computer systems to Hewlett-Packard printers and Sony PlayStations.

More lately, the Taiwanese firm has morphed into an aspiring electrical car maker chasing offers with Nissan Motor Corp. whereas additionally positioning itself as a participant in synthetic intelligence information hubs.

And now, Foxconn is reinventing itself once more because it expands into battery making. The new cells and packs it simply began churning out will assist energy the corporate’s future vehicles and cloud servers.

Battery tech is arguably the massive know-how race of our period, with everybody attempting to determine how greatest to get extra energy density and quicker cost charges into smaller and smaller cells. Whoever wins that, wins the longer term. 

Back in September, an aluminum plant in upstate New York caught fireplace. Yesterday, that very same plant caught fireplace once more. Terrible luck over at Novelis in Oswego, it appears. From Automotive News:

Firefighter put out a four-alarm blaze Nov. 20 on the identical Novelis plant in upstate New York that burned in September, weeks earlier than the provider had stated it anticipated full operations to renew.

A Novelis spokesperson stated it was too quickly to know whether or not the newest incident will delay repairs from the earlier blaze, which Ford Motor Co. has estimated may value the automaker as a lot as $2 billion.

In an replace posted on its web site, Novelis stated the fireplace, which began round 8:45 a.m., had been put out, although firefighters have been nonetheless monitoring the positioning. “Everyone working at the plant was safely evacuated and fortunately, there were no injuries,” Novelis stated.

The Trump administration has positioned heavy tariffs on metal and aluminum, economically incentivizing American firms to purchase from U.S.-based factories like this Novelis plant. Unfortunately, that additionally implies that a single fireplace like this may cripple a complete provide chain — moderately than pivoting to different suppliers. automakers like Ford that depend on Novelis steel should now simply await the manufacturing facility to come back again on-line. 

Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd.s had an journey with its Jianxiawo mine in latest months, as a back-and-forth with the federal government over mining permits has left the positioning in a state of limbo. Now, CATL is intent on reopening the mine to fulfill lithium demand — but it nonetheless hasn’t secured all the required paperwork. From Bloomberg: 

A key Chinese lithium mine run by Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. is making ready to reopen as quickly as early subsequent month.

The battery maker has formulated a preliminary plan to restart its Jianxiawo mine by early December, in line with folks acquainted with the matter, who declined to be named as they are not approved to talk publicly. The firm has requested suppliers and companions to prepared gear, chemical compounds and employees, they stated, in addition to notifying the refiners that draw feedstock from the mine.

CATL’s preparations aren’t a assure that the mine will get regulatory approval. The folks stated the corporate’s schedule could possibly be topic to alter, and that they are nonetheless awaiting sign-off from the authorities.

CATL’s mine closure wasn’t a difficulty earlier than, when excessive provide and slowing EV demand despatched lithium costs downward. Now although, as residence power storage continues to develop, CATL needs that offer again. 

Has Oliver Stone ever made a film about Oliver North?

Happy “Wicked: For Good” launch day! I nonetheless desire the stage model over the film, and the film of act one over act two, however now I can topic much more folks to my favourite musical with out paying Broadway ticket costs. In honor, my favourite observe from the present.