President Donald Trump on Friday afternoon invoked the Defense Production Act to compel General Motors to “accept, perform and prioritize federal contracts for ventilators.”

The Washington Post reports: The announcement was made hours after President Trump complained in tweets that General Motors and Ford were not doing enough to help produce the medical equipment during the pandemic. “Our negotiations with GM regarding its ability to supply ventilators have been productive, but our fight against the virus is too urgent to allow the give-and-take of the contracting process to continue to run its normal course,” Trump said in a statement. “GM was wasting time. Today’s action will help ensure the quick production of ventilators that will save American lives.”

Two weeks too late. How many lives did Trump’s dithering cost? https://t.co/BtUZeft3Lt
— Bill Shapiro (@Bill_Shapiro) March 27, 2020

Watch how quickly MAGA Media shifts from defending Trump for not invoking the DPA to listing it as yet another one of Dear Leader's great accomplishments. https://t.co/ZCx5f7Ek0W
— Simon Owens (@simonowens) March 27, 2020

This is the right move, but note Trump didn't need to sign any memorandum⁠—he's already delegated this authority to Azar, who could have done it himself.

This specific action is strictly political and intended to make Trump look pro-active so as to deflect related criticisms. https://t.co/eBq4a5Qbe9
— Scott R. Anderson (@S_R_Anders) March 27, 2020

Finally! https://t.co/8xHYf9lx89
— Ashton Pittman (@ashtonpittman) March 27, 2020

GM's response to this, from spokesman Daniel Flores: "Ventec, GM and our supply base have been working around the clock for over a week to meet this urgent need. Our commitment to build Ventec’s high-quality critical care ventilator, VOCSN, has never wavered." (via @Hassouny)
— Monica Alba (@albamonica) March 27, 2020

The problem isn’t that he waited a week from invoking the DPA to actually using it. The real problem is that he wasted MONTHS from the time the first intel reports warned of an impending pandemic to the too-little-too-late measures were just now seeing. https://t.co/sFaBgU6czS
— Ned Price (@nedprice) March 27, 2020

Ahh using the DPA out of spite to target one particular company whose CEO annoys him. Great. https://t.co/SBcMRJYaKA
— Tim Miller (@Timodc) March 27, 2020

Worth noting: HHS was discussing using the DPA one MONTH ago.

But at that time the president was saying this: “Because of all we’ve done, the risk to the American people remains very low …the 15 [cases] within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero.” https://t.co/cwXAg9oQYb
— Jon Ward (@jonward11) March 27, 2020