AFL-CIO union boss Richard Trumka praised President Donald Trump on Friday for keeping jobs in the United States.
While appearing on MSNBC's Meet the Press Daily, Trumka was asked what he thought of Trump working to keep jobs from moving overseas, as he did with the air conditioning manufacturer Carrier.
"What do you make of what he's done with Carrier? What do you make of some of these deals?" MSNBC host Chuck Todd asked. "Some will say, 'oh, it's a little blustery,' but he seems to be making a rhetorical effort and he seems to be picking up the phone and some of these companies seem to be a little nervous."
"Man, I applaud him for every one. Every job that we save in this country for an American worker, particularly a good paying, middle-class producing job, it is exceptionally well done," Trumka said. "So we're happy that that happened."
"I mean you're going to have to do more if you're going to save American manufacturing than just save a couple jobs here or couple jobs there," Trumka continued. "You need policies."
A large part of Trump's campaign was a promise to keeping manufacturing jobs in the United States. This pitch seems to have been designed to appeal to "Reagan Democrats" who crossed the aisle to help Ronald Reagan win the presidency by large margins in the 1980s.