Trump demands TSA employees work unpaid – and issues ‘promise’ for those who do

Just hours after Transportation Security Administration (TSA) workers missed their first full paycheck amid the ongoing partial government shutdown, President Donald Trump took to social media Friday to demand that they “go to work” regardless, issuing those who do a “promise” to repay their dedication.

“Keep fighting for the USA. GO TO WORK!” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social. “I promise that I will never forget you!!!”

Funding for the Department of Homeland Security – which oversees the TSA – lapsed on Feb. 14 after Democratic lawmakers refused to approve funding without new guardrails on federal immigration enforcement agencies, which have faced months of scrutiny over violent and deadly operations across the United States.

It was on Friday when TSA workers missed their first full paycheck, though some, including Johnny Jones, secretary-treasurer of the American Federation of Government Employees’ TSA Council 100, have continued to show up for work. In his social media post, Trump thanked Jones for doing so, and urged other TSA workers to follow suit.

“Thank you to Johnny Jones and all of our GREAT TSA Agents who are going to work but not being paid because the Radical Left Democrats refuse to honor the deal that was approved and voted on in Congress,” Trump wrote. “They want your money to go to 'Border Criminals, Murderers, foreign Drug Dealers, and some of the worst people on earth.' They don’t want it to go to you.”