Trump Nominates WeatherTech CEO MacNeil for FTC Commissioner Position

President Donald Trump has officially nominated David MacNeil to serve as a US Federal Trade Commissioner, as announced on the White House website. MacNeil, who is the Chief Executive Officer of WeatherTech, an Illinois-based company specializing in automotive accessories, will take over the position previously held by Melissa Holyoak. Holyoak departed from the agency late last year to assume the role of US Attorney for Utah. MacNeil will join two other Republican commissioners, chair Andrew Ferguson and Commissioner Mark Meador.

A billionaire entrepreneur, MacNeil has been a staunch supporter of Trump since 2016. His financial contributions to the Republican National Committee and various state Republican parties during the 2024 election season amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars, as indicated by campaign finance records.

In 2023, Trump nominated MacNeil for the position of Ambassador at Large for Industrial and Manufacturing Competitiveness. However, this nomination did not progress to confirmation, and the Senate returned it to the president at the end of the year.

MacNeil has been a vocal advocate for American manufacturing through his leadership at WeatherTech, which he founded in 1989. The company is notable for producing nearly all of its products in the United States. In 2024, WeatherTech reported impressive revenues of $900 million, as highlighted in an interview MacNeil gave to CBS Evening News. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) plays a crucial role in overseeing “Made in America” claims and enforcing truth-in-advertising laws as part of its consumer protection mandate.

“Being deceptive, and saying it’s made in America when it’s not, is not fair,” MacNeil stated during the CBS interview. “We love having American workers and we love having our factories right here on American soil.”

As of now, contact information for MacNeil has not been made publicly available. In recent years, he has resided in Florida, where he has acquired several properties in Manalapan, a town south of Palm Beach that is favored by billionaires, including Oracle Corp. founder Larry Ellison, according to the Palm Beach Post.

The announcement of MacNeil’s nomination came shortly after the White House withdrew its support for its previous candidate for the FTC role, Ryan Baasch, who was a staffer on the National Economic Council.

FTC Chair Ferguson expressed his enthusiasm for MacNeil’s nomination, stating on X, “I look forward to working with this outstanding businessman and great patriot.”

Photo: The Federal Trade Commission headquarters in Washington, DC. Photographer: Ting Shen/Bloomberg

President Donald Trump has officially nominated David MacNeil to serve as a US Federal Trade Commissioner, as announced on the White House website. MacNeil, who is the Chief Executive Officer of WeatherTech, an Illinois-based company specializing in automotive accessories, will take over the position previously held by Melissa Holyoak. Holyoak departed from the agency late last year to assume the role of US Attorney for Utah. MacNeil will join two other Republican commissioners, chair Andrew Ferguson and Commissioner Mark Meador.

A billionaire entrepreneur, MacNeil has been a staunch supporter of Trump since 2016. His financial contributions to the Republican National Committee and various state Republican parties during the 2024 election season amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars, as indicated by campaign finance records.

In 2023, Trump nominated MacNeil for the position of Ambassador at Large for Industrial and Manufacturing Competitiveness. However, this nomination did not progress to confirmation, and the Senate returned it to the president at the end of the year.

MacNeil has been a vocal advocate for American manufacturing through his leadership at WeatherTech, which he founded in 1989. The company is notable for producing nearly all of its products in the United States. In 2024, WeatherTech reported impressive revenues of $900 million, as highlighted in an interview MacNeil gave to CBS Evening News. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) plays a crucial role in overseeing “Made in America” claims and enforcing truth-in-advertising laws as part of its consumer protection mandate.

“Being deceptive, and saying it’s made in America when it’s not, is not fair,” MacNeil stated during the CBS interview. “We love having American workers and we love having our factories right here on American soil.”

As of now, contact information for MacNeil has not been made publicly available. In recent years, he has resided in Florida, where he has acquired several properties in Manalapan, a town south of Palm Beach that is favored by billionaires, including Oracle Corp. founder Larry Ellison, according to the Palm Beach Post.

The announcement of MacNeil’s nomination came shortly after the White House withdrew its support for its previous candidate for the FTC role, Ryan Baasch, who was a staffer on the National Economic Council.

FTC Chair Ferguson expressed his enthusiasm for MacNeil’s nomination, stating on X, “I look forward to working with this outstanding businessman and great patriot.”

Photo: The Federal Trade Commission headquarters in Washington, DC. Photographer: Ting Shen/Bloomberg