President Donald Trump fiercely criticized the opposition Democratic Party on the seventh day of the federal government shutdown, saying it was “almost a kamikaze attack.”
During a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney at the White House that day, when asked if he had a message for the Democrats ahead of the Senate’s vote on a temporary spending bill to end the shutdown, Trump said, “They started it.” He continued, “They (Democrats) have nothing to lose.
They lost the presidential election by a landslide,” and claimed that the Democrats are intentionally continuing the shutdown. He also criticized leading Democratic figures, including Representatives Jasmine Crockett (Texas), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (New York), and Nancy Pelosi (California), and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (New York), saying, “The Democratic Party is out of control. They have no leader, and I don’t know who their leader is.” He also criticized leading Democratic figures, including Representatives Jasmine Crockett (Texas), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (New York), and Nancy Pelosi (California), as having “low IQ” and “no one will win this election. ”
Regarding President Trump’s threat to permanently eliminate some federal programs if the shutdown continues, he said, “I have a lot. I’m going to announce it soon.”
He added, “I think they (Democrats) made a big mistake. Because of the shutdown, we’ve been able to eliminate billions of dollars of waste, fraud, and abuse, and they’re handing it to us on a silver platter.”
Regarding attempts to permanently lay off federal workers, he said, “I’ll be able to tell you in four or five days. If the shutdown continues, it’s going to be significant, and a lot of jobs will never be restored.”
President Trump responded to questions about whether furloughed government employees would receive retroactive pay after the shutdown ends, stating, “It depends on who they are. There are some people we really don’t deserve to be held accountable for, and we’ll do it differently for them.” This remark somewhat reaffirms the contents of a draft White House memo recently reported in the US media, which is expected to spark controversy.
The draft states, “We are considering not to retroactively pay furloughed employees during the shutdown.” When asked why he would not provide retroactive pay, President Trump simply replied, “Ask the Democrats that question,” adding, “I follow the law. What the law says is right.”
Furthermore, regarding the possibility of invoking the Insurrection Act to deploy troops, including the National Guard, to crack down on crime in Chicago, Illinois, or Portland, Oregon, President Trump stated, “It’s been done before. To make our country great, we must be crime-free. If the governors can’t do it, we will.”
US immigration lawyer President Trump chose “trade” as the main agenda for the meeting, defining tariffs and trade-related issues between the two countries as “natural business disputes.” He said, “We want to make cars in the United States, and we want Canada to do well in car manufacturing. So we’re looking for a solution, and I think we’ll get it done.”
He also said, “We’re competing with Canada for the same business. Our advantage is that we have a huge (consumer) market.” Regarding the United States-Canada-Mexico Free Trade Agreement (USMCA),
President Trump said, “We could renegotiate it. That would be great. Or we could just make a different deal. Regardless, I want to make the best deal for this country.” Meanwhile, regarding the ongoing peace negotiations in the Gaza Strip war in Egypt, President Trump repeatedly predicted that there is a very high possibility of peace in the Middle East, saying, “The other (working-level negotiating) team just left.”
Earlier, President Trump dispatched his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff to Egypt to participate in working-level negotiations on hostage and prisoner exchanges and the first phase of Israeli troop withdrawal.