AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka praised President Donald Trump on Thursday for enacting steel and aluminum tariffs, saying they were “good for the country” and good for the industry.
After praising Trump on MSNBC, Trumka applauded Trump in a series of tweets, pointing out that the “real trade war is the war on workers.”
“The real trade war is the war on workers – and we’ve been getting our butts kicked for decades,” he said. “Just look at southwestern PA. Targeted tariffs are the best way to start fighting back and hold cheaters accountable.”
The real trade war is the war on workers – and we’ve been getting our butts kicked for decades. Just look at southwestern PA. Targeted tariffs are the best way to start fighting back and hold cheaters accountable.
— Richard L. Trumka (@RichardTrumka) March 8, 2018
Tariffs won’t start a trade war, there’s 435 of them in place today to fight trade cheaters. People may not like how Pres Trump rolled these out, but I applaud him for trying.
— Richard L. Trumka (@RichardTrumka) March 8, 2018
Trump won the presidency because blue-collar workers in the Rust Belt, many of whom were Reagan Democrats, voted for his economic nationalism platform. In 2015, when most of the media and so-called political professionals thought Trump’s candidacy would be a joke, Trumka revealed that probably every union member was saying “Amen” after hearing Trump’s tough talk on trade to protect American workers.
On Thursday, Trump emphasized that he was keeping his promise to have the backs of American workers who built the country.
“Our factories were left to rot and to rust, all over the place. Thriving communities turned into ghost towns. You guys know that, right? Not any longer. The workers who poured their souls into building this great nation were betrayed,” Trump said. “But that betrayal is now over. I’m delivering on a promise I made during the campaign and I’ve been making it for a good part of my life.”
Trump also pointed out that the tariffs were also about national security.
“Today, I’m defending America’s national security by placing tariffs on foreign imports of steel,” Trump said. “You don’t have steel, you don’t have a country.”
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