President Trump Donald John TrumpFederal prosecutor speaks out, says Barr 'has brought shame' on Justice Dept. Former Pence aide: White House staffers discussed Trump refusing to leave office Progressive group buys domain name of Trump's No. 1 Supreme Court pick MORE on Friday suggested General Motors should start moving its manufacturing operations "back to America," echoing his calls to renew the U.S. auto industry.

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"They moved major plants to China, BEFORE I CAME INTO OFFICE," Trump tweeted. "This was done despite the saving help given them by the USA. Now they should start moving back to America again?"

General Motors, which was once the Giant of Detroit, is now one of the smallest auto manufacturers there. They moved major plants to China, BEFORE I CAME INTO OFFICE. This was done despite the saving help given them by the USA. Now they should start moving back to America again? — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 30, 2019

GM told The Hill in an email that over the last 10 years, its employment has remained stable, noting that it has 46,000 active United Auto Workers employees, up slightly from 45,000 in 2011.

The company also noted its announcement of investments of more than $23 billion in its U.S. manufacturing operations in the last decade, across 11 states.

Trump has long advocated for manufacturing companies to remain or move to the U.S. and has criticized companies for moving their operations abroad.

The president slammed GM last year after the automaker announced plans to cut thousands of jobs in the U.S. and Canada.

"General Motors is very counter to what other auto, and other, companies are doing," he tweeted at the time.

GM announced this past June that it had invested $4.2 billion in plants in Arlington, Texas; Flint, Mich.; Fort Wayne, Ind. and Moraine and Toledo, Ohio.

Trump's latest push for the automaker to make more investments in the U.S. comes amid his escalating trade war with China.

The Trump administration has imposed a tariff on $250 billion in Chinese goods and Beijing has taxed $60 billion in U.S. goods. Additional tariffs are slated to soon impact about $300 billion in Chinese imports to the U.S. and $75 billion in exports to China.

Updated at 11:34 a.m.