Donald Trump slams Carrier union and president in signature Twitter rant
The president-elect was not happy about being fact-checked
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump slammed the Carrier union president on Wednesday night after he said the president-elect lied about the terms of the deal to keep manufacturing jobs in the states.
"Chuck Jones, who is President of United Steelworkers 1999, has done a terrible job representing workers," he tweeted at the onset of his rant. "No wonder companies flee country!"
Prior to his outburst, the president-elect falsely claimed that he saved more than 1,000 positions at Carrier while his agreement actually saves around 800 jobs. And over the next 10 years, Carrier’s parent company will receive $7 million in tax breaks while hundreds of jobs are sent overseas before Trump takes office.
An hour later, Trump directed his tweets toward the national union by saying they should spend more time working than talking.
“If United Steelworkers 1999 was any good,” he tweeted, “they would have kept those jobs in Indiana. Spend more time working less time talking. Reduce dues.”
Twenty minutes before the tirade, Jones appeared on CNN for an interview with anchor Erin Burnett saying that 550 jobs from the Indiana facility and 700 positions from its Huntington property are still being sent to Mexico.
He later told NBC News that he must be doing a job if the president-elect was offended for being publicly corrected for his error.
"For him to say I'm a horrible labor leader,” he told the network, “I take it as a positive because that must mean that we're doing something so people can earn a decent living wage-wise and benefit-wise.”
He also said that Trump supporters are harassing him and sending him death threats on Twitter.
"I tried to correct some of his math, and he took exception to it."
"For him to say I'm a horrible labor leader, I take it as a positive, because that must mean that we're doing something so people can earn a decent living wage-wise and benefit-wise.”