Soon after, G.M. found a buyer who promised to return auto jobs to the region: Steve Burns, the chief executive of a small electric-van business, Workhorse Group. That company had a rough design for an electric pickup truck and an electric helicopter.Mr. Burns decided to leave Workhorse to form a new company to make the truck, and he agreed to buy the Lordstown plant for his new venture for just $20 million.But the deal was announced so hastily — Mr. Trump had said on Twitter of Ms. Barra, “I asked her to sell it or do something quickly” — that …
