The Ford line worker who got flipped off by President Donald Trump has turned a suspension into a small fortune, pulling in so much GoFundMe cash that he has temporarily shut the door on new donations. What started as a tense, profane moment on a factory floor has morphed into a culture‑war lightning rod, a union test case, and a very modern story about how fast online supporters can change one person’s life. The worker, identified as TJ Sabula, is now navigating sudden fame, a flood of money, and a fight over what workers can say to the most powerful man in the country.
The split-second exchange that lit the fuse
The whole saga starts with a few words shouted over the clatter of a Ford F‑150 line in Dea, and a hand gesture from the sitting president that nobody expects to see at work. Union employee TJ Sabula, a 40-year-old lineworker, called President Trump a “pedophile protector” as the presidential tour rolled past his station, a jab that cut straight into the political scandals swirling around the White House. In response, President Trump turned, raised his hand, and gave Sabula the middle finger in front of co-workers, a moment that stunned the line and was later described as both “appropriate” by Trump’s defenders and wildly out of bounds by critics who saw the president targeting a rank-and-file worker.
Sabula’s name and role as a union employee at a Ford F‑150 factory in Dea were quickly confirmed, and the clip of the president’s gesture ricocheted across social media and cable shows. Within hours, the worker who had called Trump a “pedophile protector” was no longer just another face on the line, he was the guy the president flipped off on camera. That notoriety came with a cost: Sabula was reportedly suspended without pay, a move that set off a fresh round of outrage and turned a viral insult into a broader fight over speech on the shop floor.
From suspension to six figures in “patriot” money
Once word spread that Sabula had been suspended, the internet did what it does best and opened its wallet. A fundraiser titled “TJ Sabula is a patriot!!” went live on GoFundMe shortly after the incident, pitched as a way to help a Ford worker who had just lost his paycheck after clashing with Trump. The campaign framed Sabula as someone who “calls it like he sees it,” and donors responded in force, turning a local HR dispute into a national cause. The White House, for its part, defended Trump’s behavior, which only hardened the sense among Sabula’s supporters that they were backing a political underdog.
That first GoFundMe was not alone for long. Supporters, including fellow union members and online activists, launched additional campaigns that quickly stacked up eye-popping totals. Within less than a day, supporters had already pushed contributions past $500K, with personal notes pouring in from people who saw Sabula as a stand-in for every worker who has ever wanted to speak up to a boss. The money was not just a cushion against a lost paycheck, it was a loud message that calling the president a “pedophile protector” was, in some corners of the country, worth rewarding.
GoFundMe totals explode, then hit pause
As the story spread, the numbers kept climbing. Two separate GoFundMe campaigns tied to the suspended Ford worker eventually raised over $800,000 combined, a haul that would be life changing for almost any lineworker. One breakdown of the donations noted that the first campaign alone pulled in over $330,000 from about 13,000 people, while a second effort added hundreds of thousands more. Another tally put the total raised for the suspended Ford employee at over $800,000, a figure that dwarfs the $800 or so that might cover a single missed paycheck and underscores just how far this story traveled outside the factory gates.
By the time the dust settled on the first wave of coverage, Sabula had become the rare worker whose suspension was more than made up for by online cash. One report described him as a Ford autoworker who was “earning much needed support” after being sent home, with donors effectively turning his punishment into a windfall that was “more than making up for it.” Another account framed the saga as a case of a Ford employee given “the bird” by Trump who might now be laughing all the way to nearly $1 Million in donations, as the GoFundMe totals crept toward seven figures. Video explainers on platforms like YouTube highlighted that people had raised over $350K for the Ford worker Trump flipped off, reinforcing the sense that this was no ordinary workplace dispute.
Union muscle and a bigger fight over speech
While the money poured in, the labor politics around the case got serious. The United Auto Workers stepped in to back Sabula, treating his suspension as a test of how far management can go in policing what workers say when a political figure walks through their plant. The union made clear that it was standing behind a member who had been involved in a stunning exchange with President Donald Trump, signaling that this was not just about one man’s job but about whether union employees can use their voice on the job without fear of retaliation. That support gave Sabula institutional backing to go along with his viral fame.
Inside Ford, the situation was more delicate. The company suddenly found itself at the center of a national argument over respect for the presidency, worker rights, and the line between heckling and harassment. Some within the orbit of the White House described Trump’s response as “appropriate,” arguing that a president has the right to respond when insulted. Others saw a clear power imbalance in a commander in chief flipping off a lineworker in front of his friends, then watching as that worker was suspended. The clash put Ford in the awkward position of balancing its relationship with President Trump against the expectations of The United Auto Workers and a workforce that had just watched one of their own become a political symbol.
Why Sabula hit pause and what his windfall says about politics now
At a certain point, the story took a twist that separates Sabula from the usual viral GoFundMe protagonist. After the campaigns crossed into the hundreds of thousands, the suspended Ford worker who was flipped off by Trump signaled that he was pausing crowdfunding, effectively telling supporters that he had enough for now. Reporting on the decision framed it as a rare case of someone in the middle of a culture‑war firestorm choosing to cap the cash, even as new donors were still lining up. For a worker who had just been sent home without pay, deciding to slow or stop the flow of money suggested a desire to keep the episode from turning into a permanent grift.
Even with that pause, the scale of the response is hard to ignore. One account described how, in less than 24 hours, the Ford Worker Who Trump Flipped Off Receives Nearly a Million in Donations, with a total of over $800,000 raised across campaigns and a first GoFundMe titled “TJ Sabula is a patriot!!” drawing over $330,000 from 13,000 people. Another piece noted that GoFundMe campaigns had raised over $800,000 for the suspended Ford employee, contrasting that figure with the $800 that might cover a week or two of lost wages. Coverage from 24/7 News Headlines, complete with a Photo credited to Getty Images, emphasized how Sabula, the auto worker at Ford Motor Company who President Trump flipped off, was suddenly the guy everyone wanted to help after being humiliated in front of his friends.
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