President Donald Trump’s tweet about possible Samsung manufacturing plans has not been well-received by the Korean company.
On Thursday, a Reuters report cited unidentified sources who said Samsung is mulling the possibility of manufacturing some of its home appliances in the United States. While the report said Samsung was still evaluating its decision, a source told Reuters the consideration was a response to Trump “protectionist policies.”
Soon after, the President published a tweet (TWTR) thanking Samsung (SSNLF). Trump added that the U.S. “Would love to have” Samsung manufacture products stateside, including a link to an Axios article entitled, “Trump effect: Samsung may build U.S. Factory.”
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In a report on Friday, the Korea Herald said that Trump’s tweet quickly went viral in South Korea and upset some Samsung officials, who confirmed that they’re considering a new manufacturing facility in the U.S. One Samsung representative told Korea Herald that the President’s tweet “pressured” the company.
“We feel pressured for (President Trump) thanking Samsung because nothing has been decided yet, but it could give the wrong impression that Samsung may have done something (as he wished),” the unidentified Samsung official said.
The person added that Trump’s tweet could make it seem to the public that Samsung is indeed opening a manufacturing facility in the U.S., and if it decides against it, it could be viewed as “withdrawing from a plan that we haven’t even decided yet.”
Thank you, @Samsung! We would love to have you! Https://t.co/r5nxC9oOA4
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 2, 2017
Such a scenario couldn’t come at a worse time for Samsung, which last year suffered through two embarrassing recalls. The first occurred after Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 smartphones started to explode in the late summer. The company was ultimately forced to discontinue the devices after repeated reports of overheating and explosions. Soon after, Samsung recalled nearly 3 million washing machines over reports that some of them malfunctioned and could injure users.
Since then, Samsung has worked hard to repair its image and promise better product safety.
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Meanwhile, Trump has been saying for months that he would bring manufacturing jobs back to the U.S. And has worked with several companies, including Carrier and Ford (F), to make good on that promise.
