Trump tells Ford worker who yelled at him “you’re fired”—he never lost his job

When President Donald Trump toured a Ford truck plant in Michigan in January, one of the factory workers exercised his First Amendment rights and shouted at him, calling him a "pedophile protector." Nearly a month later, the worker Trump claimed to fire was still clocking in to work.

TJ Sabula, a 40-year-old assembly line worker at the Dearborn factory, did not lose his job. He also did not face discipline, according to union leaders. While Trump publicly dismissed him, the United Auto Workers (UAW) took the opposite stance.

UAW leaders publicly backed Sabul

The confrontation happened on Jan. 13, 2026, during Trump’s visit to the Ford plant in Dearborn, Michigan. Video footage of Trump's walk through the plant picked up Sabula shouting at the president from the factory floor. He called Trump a "pedophile protector," referencing controversy around the Epstein files.

Trump reacted immediately, mouthing, "F*ck you" to Sabula, and then he raised his middle finger toward the factory worker.

He then leaned into his old reality TV persona and told the worker, "You’re fired." Yet Sabula never actually lost his job, since Trump didn't have the power to fire him.

This week at a UAW national political conference in Washington, D.C., union officials addressed the incident directly. During her speech on Monday, Feb 9, UAW Vice President Laura Dickerson offered a blunt message of support.

"In that moment, we saw what the president really thinks about working people," Dickerson told the gathered union reps. "As UAW members, we speak truth to power. We don't just protect rights, we exercise them."

"TJ, we got your back," Dickerson said during her speech, according to reports from the event. She wasn't the only one who showed support for the auto worker.

The union's president, Shawn Fain, also praised Sabula’s actions. He said, "That’s a union brother who spoke up. He put his constitutional rights to work. He put his union rights to work."

UAW leadership publicly backs the Ford worker

After the exchange with Trump, Sabula spoke with the Washington Post. He said he identified as a political independent, although he had supported Republicans in the past. Still, he stood by what he said.

"As far as calling him out, definitely no regrets whatsoever," Sabula explained. However, he admitted he worried about retaliation. He said he feared being "targeted for political retribution" for embarrassing Trump in front of other guests. Even so, he described the event as unavoidable.

"I don’t feel as though fate looks upon you often," Sabula said at the time. "And when it does, you better be ready to seize the opportunity."

The White House responded with a starkly different take. Shortly after the incident, Steven Cheung, the White House director of communications, dismissed Sabula outright.

"A lunatic was wildly screaming expletives in a complete fit of rage," Cheung told the Independent. He added that the president’s response was "appropriate."

While criticism grew online, supporters rallied around Sabula, as two separate GoFundMe fundraisers were created to help cover his bills during an expected suspension. Although he was never suspended, donations poured in anyway.

One of the fundraisers raised more than $252K in under 24 hours, and now sits at nearly $481K. The second GoFundMe raised over $330K. Both fundraisers have closed donations as of Jan. 15.

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