Trump Used To Sing The Praises of Unions

With President-Elect Donald Trump's recent Twitter rant against United Steelworkers of America Local 1999 President Chuck Jones and his appointment of fast food magnate Andrew Puzder as Secretary of Labor, it appears the Trump Administration is targeting organized labor.


But Trump hasn't always been so sour on unions. Consider what Trump had to say about them during this April 2011 interview with Bill O'Reilly:


I've had a great relationship over the years with unions. We've had collective bargaining. I've become very wealthy. I've dealt with unions course, as you know, New York is largely unions. You're dealing with them. I have great friends that are in unions and heads of unions. So I haven't had the same difficulty and problem.

As you can see Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is in the video screenshot and at the time he was battling the public sector unions. In 2011, Trump was singing Walker's praises calling him "tough" and "unyielding".


Of course, by August 2015, Trump sang a very different tune about Governor Walker. He told George Stephanopoulos that Walker was "really in trouble" and "has not performed well". Never mind that Walker had been elected to two terms, had survived a recall effort and had got his reforms passed through. None of that mattered to Trump because Walker was the enemy. Walker correctly stated that Trump was using Democrat talking points, but no one listened.


Donald Trump is a master politician. He says whatever it is convenient for him to say. He can praise unions or damn them and no one bats an eyelash. He can praise Scott Walker or damn Scott Walker and no one bats an eyelash. As long as that is true, Donald Trump can pretty much get away with anything including shooting people on Fifth Avenue.