President Donald Trump’s attacks on Harley-Davidson came after the company said it would move some of its manufacturing abroad to avoid expensive tariffs on bikes sold in the European Union. | Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images Trump on Harley-Davidson move: 'We won't forget'

President Donald Trump on Wednesday continued to blast Harley-Davidson's plans to move some of its production overseas, saying the iconic motorcycle manufacturer should “stay 100 percent in America” after all he’s done for the brand.

“Harley-Davidson should stay 100% in America, with the people that got you your success. I’ve done so much for you, and then this. Other companies are coming back where they belong! We won’t forget, and neither will your customers or your now very HAPPY competitors!” the president said in a tweet.


Trump’s attacks on Harley-Davidson came after the company said it would move some of its manufacturing abroad to avoid expensive tariffs on bikes sold in the European Union. Harley-Davidson already operates factories overseas in Australia, India and Brazil.

In his latest tweet on Wednesday, Trump threatened Harley-Davidson customers “won’t forget” the move overseas. But many Harley-Davidson fans reached Tuesday were reluctant to pick sides in the Trump-Harley feud.

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The president’s furor is in sharp contrast to when he called Harley-Davidson “a true American icon” in February. Those comments came during a meeting with Harley-Davidson executives and union members at the White House earlier this year.

The president is not the only Republican politician to have harnessed the way the Harley-Davidson brand resonates with voters. Prominent GOP leaders like Speaker Paul Ryan, Gov. Scott Walker and scores of others make Harley-riding part of their political personas.

The tone of Trump's tweet was similar to his comments on a group of UCLA basketball players who were arrested for shoplifting during a trip to China. The president criticized the father of one of the players for being "unaccepting" of what the president did for his family.

"Now that the three basketball players are out of China and saved from years in jail, LaVar Ball, the father of LiAngelo, is unaccepting of what I did for his son and that shoplifting is no big deal. I should have left them in jail!" Trump wrote.