Chairman Akio Toyoda Wears MAGA Hat to NASCAR Exhibition in Japan
This headline wasn’t on my 2025 automotive news bingo card. It’s been a turbulent year of tariffs, new technology, and automakers cooling on EVs. Industry leaders have taken every stance imaginable. But the chairman and heir to Toyota wearing “Make America Great Again” gear with President Donald Trump’s face still came out of left field.
Akio Toyoda is the grandson of Toyota’s founder, longtime CEO, and chairman of the board. Japan’s Super Taikyu endurance championship held its season finale at Fuji Speedway last weekend. The series also debuted a new class for vehicles built by U.S. manufacturers.
Fuji is Toyota’s home track, so Toyoda took the opportunity to stage a NASCAR tribute weekend. He shipped six NASCAR race cars to Japan. Then he handed them to drivers such as Jimmie Johnson, John Hunter Nemechek, and Kamui Kobayashi for exhibition laps. The weekend quickly transcended NASCAR. It turned into a tribute to Detroit and U.S. car culture. Toyoda even led the stock car pack in a Ford F-150.
Toyota is one of just three manufacturers that compete in NASCAR.
Toyoda’s pro-Trump MAGA attire sparks political questions
What stopped everyone in their tracks was Toyoda’s outfit: a matching “Trump-Vance 2024” T-shirt and a “Make America Great Again” hat that appeared to be signed.
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If you assume Toyoda was just leaning into the event’s American theme, think again. During the event he said, “I’m not here to argue whether tariffs are good or bad. Every national leader wants to protect their own auto industry…We are exploring ways to make tariffs a winner for everyone. The people we want most to be winners are our customers.”
President Trump’s tariffs did cut into Toyota’s profits on many models it exports to the U.S. But the automaker also has multiple factories in the U.S. assembling vehicles such as the Tundra, RAV4, and Camry. Toyota’s largest plant in the world is in Kentucky.
Was Toyoda trying to gain favor with President Trump for a tariff break? Perhaps. Similar stunts may have helped reduce the original 27.5% tariff on Japanese auto imports to 15%. But there’s another possibility: Akio Toyoda may genuinely be a fan of Trump’s message.
