WAS THAT ME?

Trump’s Old Comments on Government Shutdowns Come Back to Haunt Him

“If there is a shutdown, I think it would be a tremendously negative mark on the president of the United States,” he said in 2011.

Years before announcing his 2016 presidential campaign, Donald Trump repeatedly stated that the president was the one responsible for government shutdowns.

On Wednesday, hours into the shutdown that began at midnight, Democrats began using Trump’s own words against him.

“Trump is shutting down the government because he doesn’t care if you go bankrupt paying for health care,” Washington Sen. Patty Murray wrote on X, alluding to Republicans’ refusal to agree to Democrats’ shutdown-ending legislation that extends Affordable Care Act tax credits. “It’s wrong, but he’s right about one thing: he’ll own the Republican shutdown.”

Murray cited Trump’s comments to NBC News in early April 2011, Fox News in September 2013, and again to Fox a week later. Around this time, Trump was critical of then-President Barack Obama on a host of issues, in part due to Obama mocking Trump at the 2011 White House Correspondents’ Dinner on April 30.

“I hear the Democrats are going to be blamed and the Republicans are going to be blamed. I actually think the president would be blamed,” Trump told NBC ahead of a shutdown that was ultimately averted. “If there is a shutdown, I think it would be a tremendously negative mark on the president of the United States. He’s the one that has to get people together!”

Trump made the same point when calling into Fox & Friends two-and-a-half years later.

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“They’re not going to be talking who the head of the House was, the head of the Senate, who’s running things in Washington,” he said, adding later: “So, I really think the pressure is on the president.”

The 2013 shutdown began the following day and lasted 16 more. A week into it, Fox’s Greta Van Susteren asked Trump what he would do if he were in Obama’s shoes.

“Well, very simply, you have to get everybody in a room. You have to be a leader. The president has to lead,” he said.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom also highlighted Trump’s comments to NBC, asking rhetorically on X, “This you, @realDonaldTrump?”

When asked by the Daily Beast about Trump’s old comments, White House Deputy Press Secretary Abigail Jackson sent the following statement:

“Chuck Schumer and the Democrats are so desperate to distract from their decision to shut down the government that they’re making the Daily Beast write stories on silly posts. Here’s the truth: Democrats shut down the government because they want free health care for illegal aliens and they know it hurts the American people. Just listen to their own statements.”

However, since unauthorized immigrants can’t buy health insurance plans on the Affordable Care Act’s exchanges, they can’t receive subsidies, according to The New York Times. Neither can they obtain benefits from Medicaid, Medicare, or CHIP, the Children’s Health Insurance Program. The Democratic budget proposal wouldn’t change any of this.

If Trump’s social media activity leading up to the shutdown was any guide, he didn’t seem to show a willingness to negotiate with Democrats. On Monday, the president posted a fake, AI-generated video of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer lamenting how “nobody likes Democrats anymore” while standing next to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, depicted with a sombrero and mustache.

RELEVANCE?

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Schumer responded on X: “If you think your shutdown is a joke, it just proves what we all know: You can’t negotiate. You can only throw tantrums.”

Jeffries, meanwhile, posted a photograph of Trump with former pal Jeffrey Epstein, the eventual sex offender, adding: “This is real.”

And on Tuesday, with less than three hours until the shutdown deadline, Trump again posted an AI clip of Jeffries—this one apparently sourced from a meme account.

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Trump had spoken with Jeffries, Schumer and Republicans in the Oval Office earlier that day, but the meeting was apparently fruitless. That night, Trump seemed content to come away from the gathering with a photo of himself pointing and smiling at Democrats while “Trump 2028″ hats sat on his desk.

The current shutdown is the first since late 2018-early 2019, which was during Trump’s first term. When both shutdowns began, Republicans controlled the White House, the Senate and the House of Representatives.

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