President's "F You" comment and Middle Finger Gesture Steals Spotlight from Rouge Complex Visit

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	Trump's "F* You" comment and Middle Finger Gesture Steals Spotlight at Rouge Plant Visit Marc Kennedy - National-Politics Tell Us USA News Network DEARBORN, MI - President Donald Trump’s visit to Ford’s historic Rouge complex in Dearborn this week is drawing intense scrutiny after a brief, heated exchange in which the president appeared to flash his middle finger at a veteran line worker and mouth an expletive during a plant tour. The moment, captured on cellphone video and shared widely online, has quickly become the defining image of Trump’s latest trip to metro Detroit’s auto heartland. The incident unfolded Tuesday as Trump walked along an elevated catwalk overlooking F‑Series production lines, flanked by Ford executives, Secret Service, and a cluster of cameras. As the tour passed above one section of the line, a worker below shouted a sharp insult—referencing Trump’s handling of Jeffrey Epstein‑related records—loud enough to draw the president’s attention. Video shows Trump stopping, turning toward the worker, pointing in his direction and appearing to mouth “f* you” before raising his middle finger in a quick, unmistakable gesture. Some nearby employees can be seen reacting in surprise while others continue working as the president turns away and resumes the walk‑through. The worker at the center of the clash has been identified in multiple outlets as 40‑year‑old TJ Sabula, a UAW Local 600 member and father of two who works on the line at the Dearborn plant. Sabula has said publicly he does not regret the outburst and views it as a direct challenge to a president whose policies he believes have hurt working people. Ford has since suspended Sabula pending an internal review, a move that has triggered anger inside portions of the Dearborn complex and among some rank‑and‑file members. Union officials confirm a member has been benched over the incident and say they are providing representation as they press Ford on whether the discipline violates the worker’s contractual and free‑speech protections. The White House is not backing away from the video and is instead defending Trump’s actions in unusually blunt language. Communications director Steven Cheung labeled the Ford employee “a lunatic” who was “wildly screaming expletives in a complete fit of rage,” adding that the president delivered “an appropriate and unambiguous response” on the factory floor. That defense is landing with a thud among many Detroit‑area labor leaders and elected officials, who say the images from Dearborn show a president willing to personally target a blue‑collar worker in his own workplace. The moment has also complicated Trump’s broader effort to court autoworkers in a state he has repeatedly called central to his political comeback. Local reaction has been swift. Michigan Democratic leaders blasted the episode, with state party chair Curtis Hertel accusing Trump of simultaneously cozying up to foreign automakers and “telling an American autoworker to f* off.” Rep. Rashida Tlaib, whose district includes parts of the Downriver and Dearborn communities, publicly identified Sabula as a Local 600 member and criticized Ford for suspending him without pay. UAW leaders, fresh off high‑profile contract fights with the Detroit Three, framed the confrontation as part of a larger struggle over respect on the line. In a statement, union officials said workers “should never be subjected to vulgar language or behavior by anyone—including the President of the United States”—and pledged to “vigorously defend” the member’s rights under the collective bargaining agreement. Trump came to Dearborn to highlight the strength of the American auto industry, tour truck production, and deliver remarks later to the Detroit Economic Club touting tariffs and domestic manufacturing. Ford executives used the stop to underline their investment in U.S. truck production and the symbolic weight of the Rouge complex, a century‑old centerpiece of Michigan’s industrial identity. But by midweek, it was not Trump’s economic talking points or Ford’s product line that dominated conversation in metro Detroit—it was the grainy clip of a sitting president flipping off a line worker in Dearborn. In a region where politics and the plant floor are never far apart, the 10‑second exchange is already being read as a new flashpoint in the evolving relationship between Trump, organized labor, and the workers who build the vehicles that drive Michigan’s economy.