John Gallagher and Kathleen Gray

Detroit Free Press

Corrections and clarifications: An earlier version of this story misstated when Donald Trump delivered a speech on the economy in Detroit.

WARREN, Mich. — Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton told factory workers near Detroit Thursday that her economic plan will bring jobs back to the American heartland, while her opponent Donald Trump was offering nothing but a pessimistic view of America as a failed Third World state.

In her speech at Futuramic Tool & Engineering in suburban Warren, Mich., Clinton tried to paint a stark contrast with the plan offered Monday by Trump at the Detroit Economic Club.

“America’s best days are still ahead of us if we make up our minds to actually go out and make that happen," she said.

Blasting Trump for what she called his pessimistic view of America, she told the crowd, “There is nothing we can’t do if we do it together.”

Contrasting her own message with Trump’s, she said, “He is missing so much about what makes Michigan great. He describes America as an embarrassment. He says we’re becoming a Third World country. Look around you, my friends.”

Fact check: Trump’s economic speech

Clinton also addressed trade, an issue on which Trump has criticized her for supporting deals that cost American jobs. Promising to get tough with China and any other nation that tries to “game the system” or kill American jobs, Clinton said she would impose tariffs on trade cheaters and appoint the first “chief trade prosecutor” to enforce trade regulations.

"It is true that too often, past trade deals were sold with rosy scenarios that did not pan out. Those promises now ring hollow in many communities across Michigan and our country that have seen factories closed and jobs disappear," she said. "My message is this: I will stop any trade deal that kills jobs or holds down wages, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership. I oppose it now, I’ll oppose it after the election and I’ll oppose it as president."

That was a message that resonated with Pat Belanger, a retired employee of the Michigan Education Association who supported Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders during the presidential primary season.

"She really spoke to union members. She spoke to the everyday middle class workers," Belanger said after Clinton's speech. "Trade has been imbalanced for so long, and I really trust she’ll work on that when she’s elected president."

As for Trump's trade rhetoric, Clinton said: “His approach is based on fear, not strength."

She also drew an Olympics analogy: “If Team USA was as fearful as Trump, Michael Phelps and Simone Biles would be cowering in the locker room, afraid to come out and compete. Instead, they’re winning gold medals," she said.

Clinton's goal: Erase Trump's advantage on the economy

Rattling off a host of ideas, she said she wanted broadband Internet service in every home, paid family leave, a higher federal minimum wage, clean water in Flint, initiatives for small business and entrepreneurs and a program to modernize infrastructure. She also said she wanted students to be able to refinance their student debt at affordable rates, and she hopes to boost community college training programs.

She said she will work to put Americans to work building and modernizing roads, airports, bridges, ports. “We are way overdue for this,” she said.

The Trump campaign, in a series of email responses to Clinton's remarks, slammed the Democratic presidential nominee and what they called her "failed economic agenda."

"Right now the American economy is only working for the rigged system in Washington and on Wall Street, yet Hillary Clinton is running to keep things as they are," said Dan Kowalski, deputy national policy director for Trump, in a statement. "Clinton’s plans today will short circuit our economy by raising taxes, increasing spending and killing jobs."

Just before her speech, Clinton toured the Futuramic plant with owner Mark Jurcak and met with employees who are making rocket boosters for NASA and parts for the F-35 Fighter jet. She asked about the materials used in the components and talked with employees about their training and background.

The Warren company has a working apprenticeship partnership with Macomb Community College to train the workers in advanced manufacturing.

“I was told about the absolute perfection that is required to do this work,” Clinton told the crowd. “What is happening here can happen in so many places if we put our mind to it and support advanced manufacturing.”

Meanwhile, Clinton in her speech went on the attack against her opponent's own business record, saying he “has made a career of stiffing small businesses. ... It wasn’t that he couldn’t pay them. He wouldn’t pay them.” She also criticized Trump for not releasing his tax returns as other presidential candidates have done.

“We’re all in this together,” she said. “If we can grow together we can rise together. …I’m running for president to build an economy that works for everyone, not just those at the top.”

Contributing: Cooper Allen, USA TODAY in Washington