Washington (CNN) President Donald Trump publicly chastised General Motors CEO Mary Barra on Monday over her decision to close four plants in the US because of sagging demand for sedans.

The President, speaking to reporters on his way to a pair of campaign stops in Mississippi, said he'd talked to Barra about the closures, which will also hit a fifth North American plant in Canada.

"I was very tough. I spoke with her when I heard they were closing and I said, you know, this country has done a lot for General Motors," Trump said, referring to the federal bailout of the company after the 2008 financial crash.

He later repeated: "You know, the United States saved General Motors, and for her to take that company out of Ohio is not good."

A White House official said that Trump had spoken with Barra on Sunday, before the closures were publicly announced. Barra was at the White House on Monday for a previously scheduled meeting with economic adviser Larry Kudlow as Trump was speaking on the South Lawn, the White House official said.

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