Trump Courting Union Workers Marks Republican Rarity—But UAW Has Denounced His ‘Billionaire’ Status

Topline

Former President Donald Trump’s appeal for the United Auto Workers union’s endorsement marks a rarity for modern GOP presidential candidates as the Republican Party’s ideological values often undercut union priorities—but while Trump is actively courting the UAW, he hasn’t explicitly endorsed its strike and is instead using it as a platform to attack President Joe Biden’s support for electric vehicle manufacturing.

Members of the United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 230 and their supporters walk the picket line in … [+] front of the Chrysler Corporate Parts Division in Ontario, California, on September 26, 2023, to show solidarity for the “Big Three” autoworkers currently on strike. Some 5,600 UAW members walked out of 38 US parts and distribution centers at General Motors and Stellantis at noon September 22, 2023, adding to last week’s dramatic worker walkout. The UAW has described its campaign as an effort to level the economic playing field for the working class. (Photo by Patrick T. Fallon / AFP) (Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)

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Key Facts

Trump is set to deliver a speech at Drake Enterprises, a non-union auto-parts manufacturing facility outside Detroit, on Wednesday in what is widely seen as a counterpunch to Biden’s visit to a UAW picket line on Tuesday, marking the first time a sitting president has rallied with striking union workers.

In the lead-up to the UAW strike that began on September 14, Trump has sought to capitalize on the union’s grievances with Biden over his support for electric vehicle manufacturing by appealing for the union’s endorsement, while also blaming its leadership for unsatisfactory wages: “The autoworkers are being sold down the river by their leadership, and their leadership should endorse Trump,” he told NBC’s Kristen Welker that aired on September 17.

The union endorsed Biden in 2020, and it’s likely inevitable the UAW backs him in the 2024 race, but it has withheld an early endorsement over its concerns with Biden’s support for electric vehicle manufacturing.

Trump’s appeal to a union appears to be the first for a Republican presidential candidate in decades: when asked when the last time a GOP presidential contender has actively courted a union, former director of the Richard Nixon Presidential Library Timothy Naftali pointed to the Teamsters’ endorsement of former President Ronald Reagan’s 1980 and 1984 campaigns and its endorsement of former President George H.W. Bush in 1988.

Other GOP presidential candidates, including former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former Vice President Mike Pence and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, have joined Trump in criticizing Biden when asked about the strike, but none have urged the union to endorse them—and at least two, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, have expressed anti-union sentiment in response to the strike.

Contra

The UAW has denounced Trump, likening him to the wealthy executives at the companies that are refusing their pay increase demands: “Every fiber of our union is being poured into fighting the billionaire class and an economy that enriches people like Donald Trump at the expense of workers,” UAW President Shawn Fain said in a statement.

Key Background

The UAW announced a targeted strike at a General Motors plant in Missouri, a Stellantis plant in Ohio and a Ford plant in Michigan at midnight on September 14, when its existing contract expired and the companies rejected their request for a 40% pay increase over four years. The strike has since expanded to include 5,600 additional workers at 38 GM and Stellantis plants across the country. Biden firmly sided with the union workers in his first remarks after the strike was announced, advocating for workers’ wages to match the “record profits” at the companies in recent years. The strike is anchored in Michigan, a key swing state where both Biden and Trump are maneuvering for blue-collar votes.

What To Watch For

Whether Trump will visit a UAW picket line ahead of his 8 p.m. speech. It’s also unclear whether any striking workers will be in the audience. Trump’s team hoped to recruit some 500 audience members made up of auto workers, plumbers, pipe-fitters and electricians, the New York Times reported. Trump is sitting out the second GOP presidential debate, which airs at 9 p.m. EDT on Wednesday from Simi Valley, California.

Surprising Fact

Biden’s Tuesday visit to a UAW picket line outside of a General Motors plant in Belleville, Michigan, generated some backlash, including from former President Barack Obama’s auto industry task force head, Steven Rattner. “For him to be going on a picket line is outrageous,” Rattner told NBC News, adding “There’s no precedent for it. The tradition of the president is to stay neutral in these things.” Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su and senior White House advisor Gene Sperling accompanied Biden to Detroit on Tuesday and stayed behind to aid in the talks, but will not intervene in negotiations, a Labor Department official told Bloomberg.