On Tuesday, Trump threatened GM that his administration is "looking at cutting all @GM subsidies," including tax breaks for the purchase of electric cars.

And since a change in the tax break would require action by Congress, Trump has directed a broader examination of ways for the federal government to block funds to GM. Fox Business reported earlier Wednesday that the Energy Department was examining funds provided to GM. Other agencies have received similar instructions, the Bloomberg source said.

Still, in the past 12 months GM has received a relatively modest $333.5 million in federal spending according to a U.S. government website that tracks federal expenditures. More than 93% of that came through federal vehicle purchases for use by government departments.

Where taxpayer generosity features more prominently if indirectly, is that GM is also a frequent recipient of major research and defense contracts. Among the largest are a Department of Defense project that began in 2000 and earned the company $167.9 million as well as two Department of Energy grants of more than $100 million related to electric vehicles and batteries awarded during the Obama administration. Of course, U.S. taxpayers lost more than $10 billion in the rescue of the company during the financial crisis a decade ago.