Trump touts economy in Labor Day tweet, says US is fixing ‘worst trade deals ever made’

President Trump on Monday touted the U.S. unemployment rate, saying the country has “tremendous” potential as it goes about fixing some of the worst trade deals “ever made by any country in the world” in a celebratory Labor Day tweet. 

{mosads}”Happy Labor Day!” Trump tweeted. “Our country is doing better than ever before with unemployment setting record lows. The U.S. has tremendous upside potential as we go about fixing some of the worst Trade Deals ever made by any country in the world.”

“Big progress being made!” he added. 

Happy Labor Day! Our country is doing better than ever before with unemployment setting record lows. The U.S. has tremendous upside potential as we go about fixing some of the worst Trade Deals ever made by any country in the world. Big progress being made!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 3, 2018

The tweet comes amid tense, ongoing trade negotiations between the U.S. and Canada — negotiations in which Trump reportedly has said he would not compromise at all. 

The Toronto Star reported on Friday that Trump made those comments to Bloomberg News with the intention of them being off the record.

It is unclear how the Star obtained Trump’s comments on trade, which Bloomberg did not publish. The president appeared to confirm in a tweet Friday that the comments reported by the Star were accurate.

“Wow, I made OFF THE RECORD COMMENTS to Bloomberg concerning Canada, and this powerful understanding was BLATANTLY VIOLATED. Oh well, just more dishonest reporting,” Trump said on Twitter. “I am used to it. At least Canada knows where I stand!”

The two countries failed on Friday to reach a final deal on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland told reporters on Friday afternoon that the U.S. and Canada will continue to work toward one. 

Without Canada in agreement, an updated NAFTA deal will not pass through Congress.

Trump notified Congress last week about his intention to launch a new trade agreement with Mexico and potentially Canada that would replace NAFTA. 

But Trump has said “there is no political necessity” to keep Canada in the new NAFTA deal.

“If we don’t make a fair deal for the U.S. after decades of abuse, Canada will be out,” he tweeted on Saturday.