President Trump says he wants to make deals with the “hard working” American workers that make up unions, rather than the “not honest” union leaders he said are beholden to the Democrat Party establishment.

During a rally in Lima, Ohio, Trump voiced his support for the American workers who make up the United Auto Workers (UAW), calling them “hard working people” amidst his fight to get General Motors executives to reopen their Lordstown, Ohio assembly plant.

GM’s recent closing of the Lordstown plant resulted in the immediate layoff of about 1,600 American workers, and disreputed entire working and middle class communities in the area with the potential layoff of 8,000 American workers due to the decision by GM CEO Mary Barra. Since 2017, GM has laid off about 4,500 American workers in Ohio, alone.

Voicing support for the union workers, Trump said he wants to deal directly with them, not their union bosses:

Your union leaders aren’t on my side. I watch them on television … but the unions, the people that work there are on our side. I had union leaders in the White House a few months ago … nice guys, but they’re Democrats no matter what. And you see where that’s taken you. That would have been catastrophic. [Emphasis added]

I want to deal with the people in the unions, not the heads of the union. Because the heads of the union are not honest people. They’re not honest. And they ought to lower your dues by the way, they ought to stop with the dues. You’re paying too much dues. [Emphasis added]

Trump said UAW bosses should have done more to try to negotiate a plan with GM to keep the Lordstown plant running.

“They could have kept General Motors,” Trump said. “They could have kept it. They could have kept that gorgeous plant in Lordstown.”

The UAW has said they want Trump included in talks with GM executives to reopen the Lordstown plant, though so-called industry insiders have said the populist president should not be involved.

“Corporations close plants, workers don’t,” the UAW wrote online. “Join us, [President Trump] in leaving no stone unturned against GM. Don’t let GM off the hook.”

John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.