Trump holds private meeting with top union boss, vexing liberals

Former President Trump privately met with a top union boss on Wednesday, less than two weeks before the critical Iowa caucus.

Teamsters President Sean O’Brien thanked Trump for the sit-down in a statement the union posted late Wednesday night.

"There are serious issues that need to [be] addressed to improve the lives of working people across the country, and the Teamsters Union is making sure our members’ voices are heard as we head into a critical election year," O’Brien said. 

"We thank the former President for taking time during this private meeting to listen to the Teamsters’ top priorities."

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Former President Trump, left, met with Teamsters boss Sean OBrien on Wednesday, the union said.

O’Brien said there would be a roundtable with "rank-and-file" union members and the former president later in January.

A statement from the Teamsters posted on X said the union leader and Trump discussed "an in-depth and productive discussion on worker issues most important to the Teamsters Union."

People on the left immediately criticized O’Brien for the meeting.

Utah state Senator Nate Blouin posted on X, "I know some Teamsters who probably aren’t real happy about this."

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Green New Deal spokesperson Prerna Jagadeesh said on the social platform, "This is the kind of photo that comes back to bite you. There’s a way to respect that some members support Trump without platforming a union-busting, right-to-work-supporting fraud like him."

President Biden scored the Teamsters’ endorsement in his 2020 race against Trump, but despite touting himself as the "most pro-union president in American history," they have made clear they will not just hand it over again.

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Trump has been courting the union vote in his re-election bid, visiting Detroit late last year to meet with striking autoworkers instead of participating in the second Republican primary debate. 

The Teamsters endorsed then-candidate Joe Biden over then-President Trump in 2020. (Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The Teamsters have been meeting with 2024 presidential candidates on both sides of the aisle, as the massive workers union mulls who to throw its considerable weight behind.

O’Brien and others met with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, Marianne Williamson, Cornel West and Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., last month.

Fox News Digital reached out to a spokesperson for Trump for more details on the meeting with O’Brien but did not immediately hear back.

Elizabeth Elkind is a reporter for Fox News Digital focused on Congress as well as the intersection of Artificial Intelligence and politics. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.

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