Teamsters Donate Maximum To RNC After Trump Meeting

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters broke ranks with two decades of precedent last month when it made a sizable donation to the Republican National Committee (RNC). This was the first such funding to come from the union in 20 years.

The donation came after a late January meeting with the 2024 GOP frontrunner, the second between Trump and union officials. Teamsters represent roughly 1.3 million UPS and other workers in the transportation industry across the U.S. and Canada.

And the Teamsters went for the maximum. The union donated $45,000 to the RNC, the most allowed under federal election law. 

Interestingly, an RNC official asked by The Daily Caller about the donation said it had not been received.

The Washington Post reported the Democratic National Committee (DNC) took in a $135,000 donation last December from Teamsters and $15,000 in March 2023.

Trump met twice in January with Teamsters officials. On Jan. 4 he sat with General President Sean O’Brien, and then had another meeting later in the month with O’Brien and General Secretary-Treasurer Fred Zuckerman.

The Post reported the 45th president stating after the second meeting that he felt he had a “good shot” at earning the endorsement of the Teamsters. However, during the same conference O’Brien told reporters that President Joe Biden has been “great” for unions.

He added that the organization still had questions for both candidates before deciding who it would support in 2024. 

The woefully unpopular Biden continues to make union support a key part of his 2024 reelection campaign. He infamously walked with striking auto workers in Michigan in 2023 and won the UAW’s endorsement. 

The Democrat repeatedly referred to himself as “the most pro-union president in American history.” The largest labor union in the U.S., the AFL-CIO, endorsed Biden last June.

But the ever-confident Trump is undeterred. Addressing the possibility of a Teamsters endorsement, the Republican remarked that “stranger things have happened.”

He added to reporters, “Usually a Republican wouldn’t get that endorsement. But in my case it’s different, because I’ve employed thousands of Teamsters and I thought we should come over and pay our respects.”