President Trump Donald TrumpTrump lashes out after grand jury seated for New York criminal probe Schumer tees up vote on Jan. 6 commission bill Senators struggle to save Jan. 6 commission MORE on Monday ripped AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka for his comments over the weekend, saying that it's easy to see why unions have performed so poorly under Democratic leadership. "Richard Trumka, the head of the AFL-CIO, represented his union poorly on television this weekend," Trump tweeted, referencing Trumka's appearance on “Fox News Sunday" in which he repeatedly criticized the president. ADVERTISEMENT "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!" Richard Trumka, the head of the AFL-CIO, represented his union poorly on television this weekend. Some of the things he said were so againt 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 comments from Trump came just a day after Trumka said that Trump has done more to harm workers than support them. “He hasn’t come up with an infrastructure program that could put a lot of us back to work,” Trumka said. “He overturned a regulation that would deny over 5 million overtime that they would’ve had. He overturned some health and safety regulations that will hurt us on the job.” He added that the union keeps "trying to find areas where we can work with him." Trump later tweeted “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 Trumka has praised Trump in the past for his stance on U.S. trade policies, but has also called the president a disappointment, charging that Trump has "used his office to actively hurt working people." Fox News host Chris Wallace also pressed Trumka on the state of the economy, pointing to low unemployment numbers and suggesting that Trump deserved credit. “Those are good, but wages have been down since the first of the year,” Trumka said. “Gas prices have been up since the first year. So overall, workers aren’t doing as well.” Trumka's weekend criticism is tied to Trump's recent announcement that he would cancel a 2.1 percent raise for federal employees — a decision that has given rise to criticism from both GOP and Democratic lawmakers. Virginia Republican Senate candidate Corey Stewart was one of the multiple GOP candidates to slam Trump's federal pay freeze announcement, saying that “these workers need and deserve a pay raise.” Trump appeared to signal that a pay raise for federal workers could still be in the works while speaking at a ceremony in North Carolina on Friday afternoon. Trump said he'd take a "good hard look" at the issue over the weekend, according to a White House transcript. Updated at 9:25 a.m.<doc-sep>AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said Sunday that President Trump Donald TrumpTrump lashes out after grand jury seated for New York criminal probe Schumer tees up vote on Jan. 6 commission bill Senators struggle to save Jan. 6 commission MORE has done more to hurt workers than he has to help them. “Unfortunately, to date, the things that he has done to hurt workers outpace what he’s done to help workers,” Trumka said on “Fox News Sunday.” ADVERTISEMENT Trumka’s comments, made one day before Labor Day, come after Trump on Friday issued a statement praising labor unions. Trump lauded organized labor for "advocating for the interests of the American worker and wage-earner." But Trumka on Sunday criticized a number of Trump’s policy decisions. “He hasn’t come up with an infrastructure program that could put a lot of us back to work,” Trumka said. “He overturned a regulation that would deny over 5 million overtime that they would’ve had. He overturned some health and safety regulations that will hurt us on the job.” “We keep trying to find areas where we can work with him,” he added. Trumka has praised Trump in the past for his stance on U.S. trade policies, but has called the president a disappointment, charging that Trump has "used his office to actively hurt working people." “If President Trump wants to change course and join us in the fight to raise wages and standards, and strengthen our democracy and build better lives, then we’ll be ready,” Trumka said in January. “But if he continues down his current path, workers will be looking for a new president in 2020.” Fox News host Chris Wallace also pressed Trumka on the state of the economy, pointing to low unemployment numbers and suggesting that Trump deserved credit. “Those are good, but wages have been down since the first of the year,” Trumka said. “Gas prices have been up since the first year. So overall, workers aren’t doing as well.”<doc-sep>This image was removed due to legal reasons. Workers don’t really need more reminders that Donald Trump is the president of only one person: himself. And we already know his track record on labor. Advertisement But one would still hope that the president of the United States would be a little more gracious on Labor Day and refrain from attacking the president of the largest federation of labor unions in the country. Nope. And he did it not once, but twice. Early Monday morning, Trump tweeted an attack against AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, after Trumka appeared over the weekend on Fox News Sunday to weigh in on trade negotiations with Canada and Mexico, a topic Trumka is entirely qualified to speak on. “Richard Trumka, the head of the AFL-CIO, represented his union poorly on television this weekend. Some of the things he said were so againt [sic] 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!” Trump tweeted. Hours later, he tweeted the same thing (or someone did) and deleted his initial tweet. The second tweet came after Trump halfheartedly wished the country a happy Labor Day by bragging about himself and his nonexistent policy accomplishments. Advertisement “The Worker in America is doing better than ever before,” he wrote. The previous day, Trumka had pointed out that Trump’s threat of booting Canada out of NAFTA—which Trump can’t even unilaterally do—isn’t a viable option. Advertisement “It’s pretty hard to see how that would work without having Canada in the deal,” Trumka told Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace. A day earlier, Trump had tweeted: “There is no political necessity to keep Canada in the new NAFTA deal. If we don’t make a fair deal for the U.S. after decades of abuse, Canada will be out.” Advertisement Yet, while Trump claims the U.S. will forge ahead with a bilateral trade deal only with Mexico, Trumka said the U.S. is “anxious to have all three countries involved.” Advertisement “We’ve been aggressively pursuing an agreement that works for the workers in all three countries,” he said. Advertisement That could’ve been what set Trump off on Labor Day, but more likely, it was what Trumka said about Trump. “[T]he things that he’s done to hurt workers outpace what he’s done to help workers,” Trumka said, according to the AP. Trumka reminded Wallace that the president’s long-promised infrastructure revitalization program also remains missing in action. Advertisement He added that while the unemployment rate and economic growth are positive indicators, they’re countered by rising gas prices and stagnant wages. “So, overall, workers aren’t doing as well,” he said. That prompted Trump—who seems to use Fox News as his only source of information these days—to fire back on Monday that, “Our country is doing better than ever before with unemployment setting record lows. The U.S. has tremendous upside potential as we go about fixing some of the worst Trade Deals ever made by any country in the world. Big progress being made!” Advertisement Big progress! Happy Labor Day!<doc-sep>WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump began Labor Day by criticizing the head of the country's largest federation of labor unions. Trump tweeted that AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka poorly represented his union in a recent television interview. "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!" Trump tweeted. In a Fox News interview Sunday, Trumka said Trump has done more to hurt workers than help them. Trumka said the administration has overturned workplace regulations that protect employees and hasn't come up with an infrastructure program that "could put a lot of us back to work." Wages are down and gas prices are up, he added. And Trumka criticized the tax cuts Trump signed into law, saying they encourage companies to outsource jobs. "Unfortunately, right now, the scale is weighted against him," Trumka said. Trump tweeted Monday morning that the American worker is doing better than ever. Unemployment is "setting record lows," he said. And "the U.S. has tremendous upside potential as we go about fixing some of the worst Trade Deals ever made by any country in the world." The unemployment rate is 3.9 percent, which is not a record. It hit 3.9 percent near the end of Bill Clinton's presidency and dipped to 2.5 percent in 1953 under President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Trump is in the middle of renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico. He reached a tentative deal with Mexico that would provide for duty-free imports of cars assembled in Mexico – but only if at least 75 percent of the parts originate in the U.S. or Mexico. And many of those parts would have to be made by workers earning at least $16 an hour. Trump told Congress Friday that he wants to go forward with a U.S.-Mexican trade pact to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement even if he can't reach a separate agreement with Canada. Trumka said Sunday that it's "pretty hard to see how that would work without having Canada in the deal." Trumka also said a lot more work is needed before the agreement with Mexico is complete. "If we can't monitor it and enforce it effectively," he said, "then the agreement will fail for workers, and it will fail for the country." More:Trump starts clock on withdrawing from NAFTA even as trade talks with Canada continue More:Journalist says Bloomberg not source of Trump's off-the-record Canada remarks<doc-sep>
As Labor Day dawned, President Donald Trump fired back at AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, saying unions were "doing so poorly" because of his leadership as a Democrat. "Richard Trumka, the head of the AFL-CIO, represented his union poorly on television this weekend. Some of the things he said were so againt 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," Trump tweeted, misspelling against. "A Dem!" Trumka on Fox News Sunday had bashed Trump and said he had greatly harmed American workers. "He hasn't come up with an infrastructure program that could put a lot of us back to work," Trumka said. "He overturned a regulation that would deny over 5 million overtime that they would've had. He overturned some health and safety regulations that will hurt us on the job." Trumka also accused Trump of having "used his office to actively hurt working people." Fox News host Chris Wallace asked Trumka to comment on the healthy economy and low unemployment rate under Trump. "Those are good, but wages have been down since the first of the year," Trumka responded. "Gas prices have been up since the first year. So overall, workers aren't doing as well." Trumka added that the union continued "trying to find areas where we can work with" Trump. The union president attacked Trump after he announced that he would do away with a 2.1 percent raise for federal workers. But at a ceremony in North Carolina on Friday, Trump said he would take a "good hard look" at the pay raise issue over the weekend. On Monday, Trump touted the state of the economy and workers. "Happy Labor Day! Our country is doing better than ever before with unemployment setting record lows," the president tweeted. "The U.S. has tremendous upside potential as we go about fixing some of the worst Trade Deals ever made by any country in the world. Big progress being made!" Trumka in early August supported Trump's tariffs and said the president "understands that's what should be done. "We reject the notion that it's either free trade or protectionism," Trumka said. "Sometimes what's good for the country may be bad for Joe and Jane in the short term. Even the farmers would say we ought to have fair trade agreements." In another tweet Monday, Trump said: "The Worker in America is doing better than ever before. Celebrate Labor Day!"