WASHINGTON – Donald Trump met one of the biggest unions in the United States on Jan 31 as he competed for the support of labour groups. This is ahead of a likely presidential election rematch with Democratic President Joe Biden in November.

Trump sat down with the leadership and some rank-and-file members of the 1.3 million-strong International Brotherhood of Teamsters, just days after the Republican former president reacted angrily to losing out on the endorsement from another major union, the United Auto Workers (UAW).

Trump said, if elected, he would block Japan’s Nippon Steel’s planned US$14.9 billion (S$20 billion) acquisition of US Steel.

“I would block it instantaneously. Absolutely,” he said in response to a question from Reuters.

Nippon Steel said the deal would provide great benefit to US Steel, as well as the US steel industry, its customers, employees, local communities and the US, following Trump’s comment.

Trump’s meeting with the Teamsters has come during a 2024 presidential campaign in which the economy is front and centre, and unions have seen a resurgence with many, including the Teamsters, winning new significant contracts. The Teamsters labour union represents truck drivers, dockworkers, airline pilots, government employees, and many other sectors.

Trump and Mr Biden will likely target union votes in general-election battleground states, including Michigan and Pennsylvania.

Trump’s grip on the Republican presidential nomination has tightened after back-to-back wins in Iowa and New Hampshire in January.

After the meeting, Trump was sceptical about whether the Teamsters leadership would endorse him – they endorsed Mr Biden before the 2020 election – but he claimed to have strong support among the union’s rank-and-file members.

He said his pledges to impose tariffs on Chinese goods and to reduce the flow of illegal immigrants across the US-Mexico border are supported by many union members.

“I’ve dealt with unions my whole life, I have a great relationship with unions,” Trump said. “We had a very good discussion.”

Teamsters president Sean O’Brien said the union had a pleasant, direct and engaging meeting with Trump, but that it might take several months before his group makes an endorsement.

Mr O’Brien said Mr Biden “has done a lot of good work for union members” but added “what you’ve done in the past doesn’t guarantee future events”.

“We want to know what you’re going to do for our members moving forward,” he said.

The union is mulling over which presidential candidate it will endorse ahead of November’s election.

Two hours before the scheduled meeting, the Trump campaign released a list of pledges by Trump, claiming that US workers will benefit from his policies. These include tariffs on Chinese imports – a move many economists say will hurt US workers and consumers – and closing the US-Mexico border, another pledge that economists warn will adversely affect American manufacturers.

The Biden campaign said the President “looks forward to meeting with the Teamsters and earning their endorsement”.

Union power

Union endorsements could be crucial in a presidential race among a closely divided electorate where just a few thousand votes in several key states could decide the 2024 election.

Since he first ran for president in 2016, Trump has increased support among blue-collar workers and is again telling them in 2024 that he – and not Mr Biden – will improve their lives economically.

Mr Biden calls himself the most pro-union president in history and has taken many pro-labour actions, and the Teamsters endorsed him in 2020. He recently received a coveted endorsement from the leadership of the almost 380,000-strong UAW, another key labour group in the Midwest, an important election battleground.

Separately, Mr Biden will be in Michigan on Feb 1 for a visit to a Detroit-area union hall to meet with UAW members.

UAW president Shawn Fain said Mr Biden has a history of serving the working class, while Trump “stands against everything we stand for”, citing, among other things, his appearance at a non-union hall during the 2023 auto workers strike. He called Trump an anti-union “scab”.

Trump reacted furiously on his Truth Social platform on Jan 28, calling Mr Fain a “stiff” and a “dope”, and urging auto workers to vote for him and not Mr Biden in November. REUTERS