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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Michael Sainato

‘Like working in a prison’: cuts, fear and understaffing at Trump’s labor department

Donald Trump Department of Labor Julie Su United States
people hang a banner off the side of a building that shows a photo of a man and says 'American workers first'
Workers hang a large banner featuring Donald Trump at the Department of Labor headquarters in Washington DC on 27 August 2025. Photograph: Drew Angerer/AFP/Getty Images

A giant banner featuring a serious-looking Donald Trump now hangs down the front of the Department of Labor’s Washington DC office. Covering the windows of nearly three floors, the poster reads: “American Workers FIRST.”

“Mr President, I invite you see your big beautiful face on a banner in front of the Department of Labor because you are really the transformational president of the American worker,” the labor secretary, Lori Chavez-DeReme, said last month at a cabinet meeting with the president.

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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
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