Ford and GM have been lobbying Congress for years to lock independent mechanics out of your car.
DonaldTrump walked out of a private meeting and told the country what they asked him to do.
What the two biggest American automakers requested – and what Trump said back – is something most drivers never saw coming.
Trump Exposed the Ford and GM Right to Repair Meeting
During a June 4 Oval Office event on coal-fired power plants, President Trump pivoted to drop a bombshell.
He'd just met with GM CEO Mary Barra, Ford senior executive Andrew Frick, National Automobile Dealers Association officials, and Republican Sen. Bernie Moreno.
Their ask floored him.
"They don't want people to fix their car," Trump said. "I said, 'That's strange. I'd never heard of that.'"
Trump went further – telling the room that a man had received a seven-year prison sentence for repairing his own vehicle, and that he'd already pardoned him.
"You believe it?" Trump asked. "They want a bill that prohibits people from fixing" their cars.
Ford confirmed that Andrew Frick, who oversees Ford Blue and Ford Model e, attended the June 3 White House meeting and that vehicle repair issues were discussed.
The automakers offered no further explanation.
How Ford and GM Are Using the REPAIR Act to Lock Out Independent Repair Shops
Washington is already moving.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee passed the Motor Vehicle Modernization Act of 2026 (H.R. 7389) on May 21 by a lopsided 48-1 vote.
The bill is a broad transportation package that contains language directly targeting who gets to repair your vehicle – and under what conditions.
The Alliance for Automotive Innovation – the lobbying group that counts Ford and GM among its members – backed the bill.
Competing against it is the REPAIR Act, which would require manufacturers to give vehicle owners and independent shops full access to diagnostic data, calibration tools, and repair information.
The automakers want the REPAIR Act gutted, and the Motor Vehicle Modernization Act delivers exactly that – stripping out the wireless data access provisions that would let your neighborhood mechanic actually diagnose your modern vehicle.
What's left is a watered-down version that codifies a 2014 industry agreement automakers have quietly ignored for years, with the Federal Trade Commission named as enforcement agency.
The Dealership Repair Monopoly Has Been Decades in the Making
This fight didn't start in June.
Automakers have been working to lock out independent shops for more than two decades.
The first federal Right to Repair bill was introduced in 2001 specifically to break what lawmakers called an "unfair monopoly" on vehicle repair information.
Massachusetts passed its own law in 2012 with 86% voter support, and automakers immediately sued to block it.
Maine passed a similar ballot measure in 2023 with 84% voter support – same result.
The pattern is the same every time: voters demand the right to fix what they own, manufacturers go to court, and the legal battle drags on for years while repair options quietly disappear.
Modern vehicles have made the squeeze worse.
Software-controlled systems, proprietary diagnostic codes, and locked telematics data mean your local mechanic increasingly can't compete with the dealership – not because he lacks skill, but because Ford and GM won't hand over the tools.
This Is a Shakedown in Slow Motion
Here's what this means for the 65-year-old pickup owner in rural Ohio.
His mechanic of 20 years – the guy who's worked on his truck since it had 30,000 miles – gets locked out of the diagnostic system entirely.
He either drives 40 miles to the dealership, sits in a waiting room for three hours, and pays dealer rates – which run about 36% higher than independent shops – or his truck doesn't get fixed.
That's the product Ford and GM are lobbying for.
Senators Josh Hawley and Elizabeth Warren sent a joint letter to the top 10 automakers in December 2024 calling out the hypocrisy directly – the same manufacturers claiming data privacy concerns to block independent repair shops were simultaneously selling that data to insurance companies for profit.
The Alliance for Automotive Innovation says automakers "always have, always will" support right to repair.
Trump just told you what they say behind closed doors.
Ford and GM just showed you exactly who they are.
Sources:
- Jonathan Lopez, "Trump Says GM, Ford Seeking To Restrict Right To Repair," GM Authority, June 2026.
- Tony Owusu, "Ford, GM Likely Scratching Heads Over Latest White House Message," TheStreet, June 2026.
- Staff, "House Committee Advances Motor Vehicle Modernization Act, Excluding Full REPAIR Act Provisions," Autobody News, May 2026.
- Staff, "U.S. House Committee Approves Amended REPAIR Act That Backs 2014 MOU," Repairer Driven News, May 2026.
- Press Release, "Warren, Hawley, Merkley Push Automakers on Their Opposition to Car Owners' Right to Repair," U.S. Senate, December 2024.
- Staff, "Trump Endorses Right to Repair Legislation After Meeting With Automakers," Aftermarket Matters, June 2026.