海角大神

Richard Trumka points to his 50-year AFL-CIO pin with pride.

鈥淚 got this two months ago,鈥� the burly labor leader says, settling in for a Monitor Breakfast with 25 reporters on August 1.

It was in 1968 that Mr. Trumka, still a teenager, followed his father, uncles, and grandfather into the coal mines of southwestern Pennsylvania. Now, he鈥檚 in his third term as president of the nation鈥檚 largest federation of unions, his signature mustache mostly gray but his spirit undiminished.

Trumka is a familiar face at Monitor Breakfasts. He鈥檚 come every year since 2009, usually right before Labor Day. This year, we convened a bit early. But there was no shortage of union matters to discuss - especially with President Trump upending US trade relationships and the聽midterm elections coming.

Here鈥檚 where it gets tricky for Trumka: The AFL-CIO president is largely unhappy with Trump - and came wielding a list of about 50 鈥渁nti-worker actions鈥� by the president. But he agrees with Trump鈥檚 stated goal of fixing trade practices and sticking up for American workers. Trumka has to tread carefully. The president won a lot of union members鈥� votes in 2016.

As I wrote in聽my story聽afterward, Trumka thinks all the talk of trade wars is 鈥渉ysteria.鈥� But even as he applauds Trump鈥檚 goal, he criticizes the president for using tariffs too broadly.

The two presidents talk, but their relationship is contentious - no surprise there. At the breakfast, Trumka clearly relished mixing it up with reporters. He and Dan Merica of CNN went at it over agricultural tariffs. And when another reporter tried to nudge a long-winded Trumka toward an answer on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, Trumka responded impatiently. The labor chief later apologized for being 鈥渁 bit contentious.鈥�

Trumka also had a funny/tense exchange with Reuters reporter Ginger Gibson that involved Trumka鈥檚 dog - and the cost of dog food. That happens at the 58:40 minute-marker on the C-SPAN video of the breakfast, viewable聽here.

Later, my assistant asked if I should have intervened when sparks flew. No, I said. Our breakfasts are models of civility, but that doesn鈥檛 rule out spirited debate, or even a bit of testiness. Trumka is a feisty guy, and he was just being himself.

Our breakfast generated聽lots聽of聽tweets聽and news stories. My colleague Mark Trumbull聽wrote about聽labor鈥檚 push to elect Democrats in November. USA Today聽focused聽on Trumka鈥檚 balancing act on trade. The Washington Examiner聽reported聽Trumka鈥檚 prediction that voters would overturn Missouri鈥檚 鈥渞ight to work鈥� law聽Tuesday.

Most provocative was a聽story聽in Newsmax that quoted Trumka refusing to rule out an AFL-CIO endorsement of Trump in 2020. 鈥淭HIS MUST BE A TYPO,鈥� tweeted another union leader. Dave Weigel of the Washington Post, who attended the breakfast, responded via聽Twitter: 鈥淭rumka gave no impression whatsoever that the union could endorse Trump; he just steered around a gotcha question.鈥� Here鈥檚 the聽C-SPAN clip聽of that moment; judge for yourself.

The Monitor Breakfast now goes on hiatus for a month, but after Labor Day, we come back with a bang: former White House press secretary Sean Spicer on聽Sept. 5聽and Rep. Steve Stivers of Ohio, chairman of the Republican House campaign committee, on聽Sept. 7.

As for Trumka, the signoff was easy: 鈥淪ee you next year!鈥�