Ford's CEO says he's ready for the era of Trump tweets

Ford reported fourth-quarter earnings on Thursday.

After the numbers were announced, Ford CEO Mark Fields took questions from analysts and the media on a conference call.

At the end of the call, he was asked by a reporter about President Donald Trump's tweets and their potential to affect markets and share prices.

"I feel good," Fields said, insisting that the automaker keeps an eye on the "external environment" around its operations.

"It's been the way we've been running this business for years," Fields added. "Whether it's a tweet or a market disruption or a natural disaster, we're going to be ready. It keeps us riveted on our business."

Ford and Trump tangled during the presidential campaign about the carmaker's plans to move low-profit small-car production to a new plant in Mexico.

After the election, Ford said that it was canceling the new plant and instead investing $700 million in an existing Michigan factory. At the time, Fields told Business Insider that wasn't as a result of pressure from Trump, but because the automaker decided that it didn't need additional global small-car capacity.

Fields has met several times with Trump in the past week, and the auto industry as a whole seems pleased with the new President's plan to cut regulations and lower corporate taxes, even as he threatens a border tax on vehicles manufactured outside the US and then are imported for sale here.