President Donald Trump attacked automakers for the second time in a matter of days, chiding their “foolish executives” as his administration completed the final step of a three-year quest to dismantle Obama-era fuel efficiency rules. Days after demanding that General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co. make ventilators, Trump claimed that unidentified company leaders were being “politically correct” by not endorsing his efforts to ease gas mileage and emissions regulations for automobiles, a move that has enraged environmentalists and sparked courtroom battles.

✔@realDonaldTrump

My proposal to the politically correct Automobile Companies would lower the average price of a car to consumers by more than $3500, while at the same time making the cars substantially safer. Engines would run smoother. Positive impact on the environment! Foolish executives!

Last week, the president took Detroit — and particularly GM and its Chief Executive Officer Mary Barra — to task for moving too slowly to build breathing devices for coronavirus victims. Shortly after Trump sent a set of angry tweets, the company announced a deal to partner with a ventilator maker and start production within weeks — with or without the federal contract they had been seeking.

The back-to-back critiques are coming from a president who billed himself as a champion of the industry and welcomed Detroit’s CEOs to the White House within days of his inauguration. He delivered Tuesday on a vow to relax regulations he said were too burdensome by requiring the industry to boost new car fuel efficiency by 1.5% per year through 2026. The previous mandate required improvements of roughly 5% annually.