Ford suspended factory worker TJ Sabula, who shouted at Trump, branding him a "paedophile protector" during his tour of the plant in Detroit yesterday
17:13, 14 Jan 2026Updated 17:13, 14 Jan 2026
A factory worker who heckled Donald Trump, prompting him to swear and make an obscene gesture at him has been suspended from his job.
Ford factory worker TJ Sabula shouted at the US President, branding him a "paedophile protector" during Trump's tour of the plant in Detroit yesterday. He was later identified by The Washington Post, and told them he regrets nothing. And since being suspended a crowdfunding page to help him "pay some bills" has raised more than quarter of a million dollars.
After Sabula, 40, shouted at Trump, the President responded by twice yelling - or at least mouthing, "f**k you" and giving him the finger. It was an extraordinary loss of cool from a President who - even more than most - is not used to being exposed to real people. According to the Post, Sabula has been suspended from his job pending an investigation.
"As far as calling him out, definitely no regrets whatsoever," Sabula told the Post, but says he's been "targeted for political retribution" for "embarrassing Trump in front of his friends." Sabula thinks he was about 60 feet away from Trump when he heckled him, and that the president could hear him "very, very, very clearly."
He told the Post he was specifically referencing Trump's handling of the Epstein files.
"I don't feel as though fate looks upon you often, and when it does, you better be ready to seize the opportunity," he said. "And today I think I did that."
A White House spokesman said: "A lunatic was wildly screaming expletives in a complete fit of rage, and the President gave an appropriate and unambiguous response."
The extraordinarily unpresidential display took place shortly before Trump gave a rambling, unhinged and often racist speech at the Detroit Economic Club.
Trump threatened to strip anyone originally from Somalia who is convicted of fraud of their US citizenship - which would be illegal under US law. Citizenship can only be revoked under very limited circumstances, and only over crimes that relate directly to their citizenship status. "If you come to America to rob Americans, we're throwing you in jail and we're sending you back to the country from where you came," he said.
And after a week where several US government departments were slammed for using white supremacist-coded messages in their social media, Trump made a pointed remark about America deporting Somalis and returning to its "native spirit".
He said: "As we liberate our country from this cultural scourge and the plague of corruption and fraud, we will rediscover the natural energy and native spirit that truly makes America great again."
"We're getting them out, we're getting them out," he said. "And we're not going to pay them. We're not going to pay Minnesota any more money...for any of that crap." He went on to suggest he was cutting off all funding for so-called "Sanctuary Cities" - where officials are not allowed to ask people using public services about their immigration status. "Because they do everything possible to protect criminals at the expense of American citizens," Trump said. "It brings fraud, crime, all of the other problems that come. So we're not making any payment to anybody that supports Sanctuary Cities."