President Donald Trump started his Labor Day with an attack on a top union leader, lashing out after criticism from AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka.
“Our country is doing better than ever before with unemployment setting record lows. The Worker in America is doing better than ever before. Celebrate Labor Day!”
Trump tweeted Monday that Trumka “represented his union poorly on television this weekend.” He added: “It is easy to see why unions are doing so poorly. A Dem!”
Richard Trumka, the head of the AFL-CIO, represented his union poorly on television this weekend. Some of the things he said were so against the working men and women of our country, and the success of the U.S. itself, that it is easy to see why unions are doing so poorly. A Dem!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 3, 2018
The president’s attack came after Trumka appeared on “Fox News Sunday” over the weekend where he said efforts to overhaul the North American Free Trade Agreement should include Canada. Trumka, whose organization is an umbrella group for most unions, said the economies of the United States, Canada and Mexico are “integrated” and “it’s pretty hard to see how that would work without having Canada in the deal.”
Trump said Saturday on Twitter that there was “no political necessity” to keep Canada in NAFTA. But it’s questionable whether Trump can unilaterally exclude Canada from a deal to replace the three-nation NAFTA agreement, without the approval of Congress. Any such move would likely face lengthy legal and congressional challenges.
Trump administration negotiations to keep Canada in the reimagined trade bloc are to resume this week as Washington and Ottawa try to break a deadlock over issues such as Canada’s dairy market and U.S. efforts to shield drug companies from generic competition.
Trump wants to get a trade deal finalized by Dec. 1.
On Monday, Trump touted the economy, saying “Our country is doing better than ever before with unemployment setting record lows.” He added, “The Worker in America is doing better than ever before. Celebrate Labor Day!”
The Worker in America is doing better than ever before. Celebrate Labor Day!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 3, 2018
The unemployment rate of 3.9 percent is not at the best point ever — it is near the lowest in 18 years.
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