What did Donald Trump do today?

He bragged about not knowing about what was happening with a major transit strike.

3,500 employees of the Long Island Railroad (LIRR) went on strike today. The striking workers have not received a raise in three years, meaning they've taken a de facto pay cut amid sharply rising inflation. Talks with the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) have been stalled for years.

 

New York's Democratic governor, Kathy Hochul, opposes the strike and supports only a 3% raise—almost certainly not enough to outpace this year's rising prices—but in a statement she made almost nine months ago, she also criticized Trump and his appointees to the board that helps mediate labor disputes in the railroad industry. She reiterated that today, saying that the strike was the "direct result of reckless actions by the Trump Administration to cut mediation short and push these negotiations toward a strike."

Trump responded not by disputing her claim, exactly, but by bragging about how he'd never even heard about any LIRR strike:

Failed New York State Governor Kathy Hochul, a Dumacrat, just blamed ME for her Long Island Railroad STRIKE, when she knows, full well, that I have NOTHING TO DO WITH IT - never even heard about it until this morning.

To be clear, Trump is almost certainly telling the truth, because a president admitting they had no clue about a major railroad strike is incredibly damning. Railroads, both commuter and freight, are considered so essential to the proper functioning of government that they have an entire separate legal apparatus designed specifically to avoid strikes. Presidents can legally order striking railroad workers back on the job under certain circumstances, as President Biden did in 2022. 

But railroad workers also have special protections and benefits unique to them, including recourse the National Mediation Board whose members were supposed to prevent this or any other transit strike from happening in the first place. Trump appointed the current chair and fired one of the Biden appointees, quite probably illegally, essentially paralyzing the two remaining members from taking any action. 

Three members, the original two Biden appointees and one Trump appointee, would have been able to take valid legal action to avert the strike.

270,000 people use the LIRR on a daily basis.

Why does this matter?

• It's bad if a president doesn't have the first clue about major events his administration is supposed to be working on.  

• It's worse if he thinks that's a good thing.