Trump meets with Teamsters as he targets Biden support

Former President Donald Trump met with the Teamsters Union on Wednesday in an attempt to slice into one of President Joe Biden’s prior lines of support.

Trump attended a meeting with Teamsters President Sean O’Brien and Secretary-Treasurer Fred Zuckerman, the union's executive board, as well as other members for a roundtable at the group’s headquarters in Washington, D.C.

"We had a very strong meeting with the Teamsters," Trump told reporters, and said he thinks there is a "good shot" that he gets their endorsement.

"Usually a Republican wouldn't get that endorsement," Trump said, while arguing that he was in a stronger position than other Republicans and that the union "never had...a better four years than they had during the Trump administration."

Biden, who was also invited to participate in a Teamsters rank-and-file roundtable Wednesday, was endorsed by the union in the 2020 election.

Biden “looks forward to meeting with the Teamsters and earning their endorsement” in this year's election, a Biden campaign official told NBC News. It was not clear if the president would meet with the group Wednesday.

The Teamsters said the roundtable would be an opportunity for candidates to discuss how the next president and the group "can work together to empower and protect workers, promote high labor standards and strengthen the American economy while expanding the middle class.”

The union said former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, Trump's rival for the GOP nomination, has received an invitation to meet with the group as well.

In meeting with the Teamsters, Trump is eyeing union members who tend to vote Democratic. The union also endorsed former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton over Trump in 2016.

However, as the election draws nearer, the Teamsters president said the group is open to lending Trump an ear in his effort to win them over.

“Our members want to hear from all candidates of all parties about what they plan to do for working people as President,” O’Brien said in a statement before Wednesday's roundtable.

O’Brien added that their members are “essential to every trade industry in this country,” and don’t all fall into one political alignment.

“Our members are working in all 50 states and represent every political background, including no affiliation,” O’Brien said. “Our union wants every candidate to know that there are 1.3 million Teamsters nationwide whose votes will not be taken for granted. Workers’ voices must be heard.”

Despite Trump’s move to meet with the Teamsters and garner union support, Biden has already succeeded in earning endorsements from a handful of unions for the 2024 race, including from the United Auto Workers last week.

Biden also received an early endorsement from the AFL-CIO in June.