President Donald Trump told a crowd in Michigan that the White House has ordered 250 Cadillac Escalades, the flagship sport utility vehicle in the luxury auto brand’s lineup, for his presidential motorcade.
Trump revealed the purchase in a speech delivered at a General Motors testing facility in the Detroit suburb of Milford.
“The one and only Escalade,” he said toward the beginning of a roughly one-hour-long address. “You know we ordered, I think, 250 Escalades, right? We ordered 250 Escalades…. We look sharp in those Escalades.”
The 2026 Escalade has a manufacturer’s suggested retail price starting in the low $90,000’s, though upgrades take it well north of six figures. Its high-performance V-series runs about $170,000.
“Our guys are very spoiled,” he said. “They’re very spoiled. They like the Escalade. So do I.”
Endorsement of the Escalade, introduced in 1998, by hip-hop artists and in pop culture in the late 1990s and early 2000s helped reshape its image as status symbol and change Cadillac’s reputation as a car for older generations, according to a history of the car posted by Al Ghandi Auto. It appeared in a Jay-Z music video and in a freeway chase scene of “The Matrix Reloaded.”
Cadillac, the preferred brand of many previous presidential administrations, also produces Trump’s presidential limousine, “a custom-built, highly secure fortress on wheels” known as “The Beast,” according to the automaker.
Models pose for a photographer in front of a Cadillac Escalade during a Luxury Car Show in Bucharest May 24, 2007.
In his speech, the president praised the Chevrolet Silverado, GMC Sierra and “the world-famous Hummer” as “some of America’s most iconic vehicles.”
“Thank you to the auto workers, the technicians, the mechanics, the welders, the engineers at General Motors,” he said. “There’s no finer group of people. It was workers like you who built this country, and now it’s the men and women like you who are making it bigger, better, richer and stronger than ever before.”
General Motors, based in Detroit, recently reported stronger-than-expected second-quarter results despite a 31% net drop in income, citing strong American support for the company’s pickups and SUVs.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: ‘We look sharp’: Trump says White House ordered 250 Cadillac Escalades
