Trump's shutdown contradictions
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Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
President Trump blames Democrats, the shutdown and media bias for his party's shellacking last Tuesday.
Why it matters: What he leaves out is his own role in Republicans' election wipeout and the contradictions in his policies and messaging.
It's hard to argue you care about the working class while you're fighting to not fund SNAP payments.
- It's hard to argue Democrats are to blame for the shutdown when your party controls all of Congress.
- It's hard to argue prices are coming down everywhere when they're obviously going up for coffee, orange juice, ground beef, energy and housing.
- It's hard to argue you're fixated on economic angst at home when you spend a lot of time talking about other countries, including on an overseas trip during a domestic shutdown. And then there are the White House renovations, the weekend trips to South Florida, golfing, and a "Great Gatsby"-themed party at Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach.
Reality check: Trump does have one clear, consistent message — Democrats need to end the shutdown. And there's an explanation for each of his seemingly muddled positions.
- But in politics, when you're explaining, you're losing. And polls show more voters blaming Trump and the GOP for the shutdown. Public approval of Trump's job performance began to crater in late October, four weeks into the shutdown.
- "The president is well aware of this," a Trump adviser said of the polling. "But no one is coming out of this on the right side. People are pissed at all parties."
- Democratic pollster Will Jordan wrote on X: "The shutdown is no longer a 'process story' for a huge segment of Americans — 29% say it will have a very negative impact on them personally (was 11% three weeks ago) — the dominant explanation for how people will be hurt is 'food stamps/SNAP.'"
Democrats are still feeling the heat, the Trump adviser said, "which is why they're coming with some very serious proposals."
- White House officials also grouse that mainstream TV coverage has blamed Republicans more than Democrats, whose use of the Senate filibuster forced the shutdown.
Between the lines: Some Trump confidants privately admit his attention was essentially AWOL during the early part of the historic shutdown, now in its 40th day (39 full days passed). So his messaging was flabby.
- That's changing as he gets more engaged and digests last week's losses.
- Trump is putting more pressure on Republicans to end the filibuster and thereby end the shutdown.
On Saturday, Trump called for the Affordable Care Act, which is at the center of the shutdown fight, to be scrapped.
- Trump wrote on Truth Social: "I am recommending to Senate Republicans that the Hundreds of Billions of Dollars currently being sent to money sucking Insurance Companies in order to save the bad Healthcare provided by ObamaCare, BE SENT DIRECTLY TO THE PEOPLE SO THAT THEY CAN PURCHASE THEIR OWN, MUCH BETTER, HEALTHCARE, and have money left over."
What's next: Since the shutdown began, many in Trump's orbit have believed its end was right around the corner. This weekend is no different.
- But despite the losses and messaging woes, Trump isn't going to give in to Democrats' demands, advisers said.
- "He's growing increasingly frustrated with the shutdown. He genuinely wants it to end," his adviser said. "But he's not going to be held hostage by the Democrats."
