Trump: Labor union chief 'likes what we are doing until the cameras go on'
President Trump tweeted Monday that labor union head Richard Trumka likes his trade policies, but that he won’t say so publicly.
“Just watched AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka on @FoxNews and thought to myself how different he is on TV than he is when he is with me at the White House” Trump tweeted. “Likes what we are doing until the cameras go on.”
“We got robbed on Trade and everything else while his Dems just sat back and watched,” he continued. “NAFTA is the worst Trade Deal ever made - terrible for labor - and Richard let it stand. No wonder unions are losing so much. The workers will vote for me in 2020 (lowest unemployment, most jobs ever), and should stop paying exorbitant $Dues, not worth it!”
In an interview with Fox News’ Chris Wallace that aired Sunday, Trumka called the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement “unenforceable,” and said he could not support it in its current form.
“An unenforceable trade agreement is a windfall for corporations and a disaster for workers,” Trumka said.
The union responded that it has been consistent in its position on trade.
"We’ve been clear on what working people want, in private and in public," AFL-CIO press secretary John Weber told FOX Business. "It’s our job to tell the president what he needs to hear — not what he wants to hear."
Trump also hit back at New York Times columnist Paul Krugman Monday, noting the performance of the stock market and wealth creation in the U.S.
“Since my election, many trillions of dollars of worth has been created for our Country, and the Stock Market is up over 50%,” Trump tweeted Monday. “If you followed the advice of the Failing New York Times columnist, Paul Krugman, you’d be doing VERY poorly - you’d be angry and hurt. He never got it!”
Krugman’s most recent column, from Thursday, went after the farmers who support Trump despite the trade war that is making it harder for them to do business.
“Farmers’ support for Trump should be seen as a form of affinity fraud, in which people fall for a con man whom they imagine to be someone like them,” Krugman wrote. “And as is often the case in such frauds, the con man and his associates actually have contempt for their marks.”