Trump Taps the Man Behind WeatherTech’s Made-in-USA Floor Mats to Bring Factories Home

President Trump has a new point man for bringing factories back to America: David MacNeil, the founder of WeatherTech, the company best known for the custom car floor mats it makes in the United States.

Trump announced the pick Monday on Truth Social, calling MacNeil a “GREAT American entrepreneur” and naming him Special Envoy for Manufacturing. “David has built an incredible American company that makes outstanding products, RIGHT HERE IN THE U.S.A.,” Trump wrote. “He knows how to create jobs, bring Manufacturing back home, and put America First.”

“Together, we will bring back American jobs, strengthen our factories, and make sure that future products are MADE IN AMERICA,” he added.

Why MacNeil

MacNeil founded WeatherTech in 1989 and built it around a simple selling point: the mats, liners and accessories are made in America. That’s the same message Trump has pushed with tariffs and pressure on companies to build plants here, which makes a factory-floor CEO a natural messenger for it.

Third time’s the job

This is the third role Trump has picked MacNeil for in his second term. Trump first nominated him on May 6, 2025, as an ambassador at large for industrial and manufacturing competitiveness. The Senate never voted on it, and the nomination went back to the White House on Jan. 3, UPI reported.

Ten days later, Trump nominated him to the Federal Trade Commission, the agency that polices business competition and consumer scams. On Nov. 4, MLex reported that MacNeil had withdrawn from that seat. On Monday the White House formally pulled the nomination and, in the same batch, sent the Senate the name of Chris Mufarrige, now head of the FTC’s consumer protection bureau, for a seat on the commission.

What we don’t know yet

The White House hasn’t said what the envoy will do day to day, who he’ll report to, when he starts, or whether the job needs Senate confirmation the way his first two picks did. The ambassador and FTC posts both required a Senate vote. UPI notes the envoy title appears to be new, though past presidents, including Barack Obama and George W. Bush, had their own manufacturing-focused officials.

What is clear is the message. Trump chose a man whose company’s whole brand is “made here,” and he put him in charge of selling that idea to the rest of American industry.