It was the first time Trump included GM in his roster of corporate wrongdoers, though the Trump campaign later removed GM from the statement and declined to say why. GM declined comment.
Mondelez Treads Carefully
Mondelez, previously known as Kraft Foods, took a different tack.
After Trump vowed to boycott Oreos, Mondelez fielded numerous media inquiries and contacted reporters when the company deemed press coverage of his remarks off base, said Laurie Guzzinati, who oversees governmental affairs in North America for Mondelez.
The company didn't engage in any Trump-bashing, though Guzzinati said Trump's comments were "grounded in inaccuracies."
She said she told reporters that Mondelez would continue to make Oreos in three locations in the United States, countering the impression Trump may have left that Oreos would no longer be made in the United States.
Mondelez's response tracks closely what crisis management experts recommend for Trump-targeted companies.
Hilary Rosen, a managing director for Washington, D.C., communications firm SKD Knickerbocker, said her firm was representing corporate clients who have been singled out by Trump, though she declined to name them.
Rosen's advice to clients, she said, is "don't depend on educating Donald Trump on the truth. People have tried and failed."
Rosen, a Democrat, recommends instead that companies make their case to the journalists who cover Trump, so "Donald Trump does not define you."