Biden meets with the Teamsters today. But don't expect an endorsement any time soon

President Biden's travels today take him right up Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House to the headquarters of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.

Teamsters President Sean O'Brien and other top executives of the 1.3 million member union are expected to welcome the president. Biden will also participate in what's described as a roundtable discussion with rank-and-file Teamsters including, as a union statement put it, "UPS drivers, American Red Cross technicians, film and television workers, freight operators, law enforcement, and public employees."

The Teamsters are one of the largest labor unions in the country, with members not only in a diverse collection of industries and workplaces, but also spread across the country including in important political battleground states like Michigan, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Wisconsin and others.

Biden — who often refers to himself as "the most pro-labor President in U.S. history" — already has won important 2024 endorsements from the AFL-CIO and the United Auto Workers union. Additionally, more than two dozen other national unions have also endorsed him, including the National Education Association, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, and the Laborers International Union.

The Teamsters may indeed join that list, but it could be a while before they do so. The organization points out that in 2020, its endorsement didn't come until mid-August, just 10 weeks before election day.

The Teamsters do offer a potentially very important base of support for any candidate. They backed Biden over Trump four years ago, as did a long list of other unions.

The Biden campaign issued a statement about the president's relationship with the Teamsters saying, "The