Paul Kengor: Trump’s big deal for steelworkers

It was September 2020. United Steelworkers, the steelworkers union, was aglow — literally — for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

You might recall what I’m talking about. Driving around Pittsburgh, you couldn’t miss it.

The steelworkers union — which is to say, the brass that runs the union — had launched a “batlight” campaign, illuminating landmarks citywide with giant “Biden Harris 2020” projections. They canvassed everything from Pitt’s Cathedral of Learning to the Carnegie Science Center to Mt. Washington.

It was a stunning display, not only because of the striking nighttime projections but because of the mystifying reality that the steelworkers union was opposing arguably the most supportive president it ever had. Regardless of how one felt about Donald Trump (I hadn’t voted for him), there was no denying his remarkable efforts on behalf of steelworkers, from confronting China with tariffs to battling environmentalists.

How in the world could their union campaign for his opponent?

Even former USW President Leo Gerard had conceded: “What (President Trump) did is what we’ve been fighting for more than 30 years. It’s going to make it very hard for our members to ignore what he just did … . We’ve been trying to get Democrats to do this for more than 30 years.”

Well, the members did not ignore it. But their leadership did what it always did: endorsed the Democrat. It was a shameless display of the partisan political bias of the union heads, who always, no matter what, backed the Democrat. It was Democratic Party above all. If ever there was a year when union officials should have backed the Republican, 2020 was it.

But alas, the brass did not.

Now, however, with the historic U.S. Steel-Nippon deal that Trump spent an extraordinary amount of time negotiating, the steelworkers union ought to be projecting Trump’s mug across Mt. Washington, with a heart around it, maybe even a halo. They should project it from Mt. Washington across the entire Mon Valley. They ought to build a statue of Trump aside the former U.S. Steel Building.

What Trump’s big deal has done for steelworkers in this region is astonishing. And if you can’t admit that, then you’re consumed by an unhealthy hatred for the man. I’m neither Trump hater nor Trump lover, Never Trump nor Always Trump. And even if you’re a free marketer with objections about Trump’s tariffs or steel deal, you cannot deny this: Trump is the best friend local steelworkers have ever had in the White House. No Democrat or Republican ever did for them what he just did. And no one seemed as excited about that as Trump last week in West Mifflin.

“I am proud to announce that, after much consideration and negotiation, U.S. Steel will REMAIN in America and keep its headquarters in the great city of Pittsburgh,” said Trump triumphantly. Pittsburgh will again “be respected around the world as the steel city.”

Trump declared he loves his wife, his family, God and tariffs. He also loves steelworkers and Western Pennsylvania. I suspect they love him, too.

As for their union leadership at the national level, well, that’s another story. If Trump could run for president again, it wouldn’t surprise me a bit if they endorsed his Democrat opponent again. That’s their party.

But this is a moment not for them but for their members, for the hardhats who give their blood, sweat and tears. They, no doubt, are grateful to their president, regardless of his political party.