Trump not worried about his government shutdown: 'Most of the people not getting paid are Democrats'

Donald Trump is home from his Iraq distraction and back to yapping about his partial government shutdown. In yet another tweet trying to blame the whole thing on Democrats—even though Trump told Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer that “If we don't get what we want I will shut down the government. I am proud to shutdown the government for border security. ... I will take the mantle for shutting down the government”—Trump offered up one reason he’s happy to keep around 420,000 federal workers on the job without pay and another 380,000 furloughed.

“Do the Dems realize that most of the people not getting paid are Democrats,” Trump tweeted. So why should he worry about them? In Trump’s world, only Trump voters count—and if they’re the kind of people who live paycheck to paycheck, even Trump voters only count a little. 

Trump’s tweet is yet another signal that his shutdown won’t be ending anytime soon. Most members of Congress are back home in their districts and they haven’t been given the heads up to get back to Washington for a vote. Meanwhile, Trump’s Freedom Caucus friend Rep. Mark Meadows is publicly egging Trump on, telling CNN that “If they believe that this president is going to yield on this particular issue, they’re misreading him,” and one of Trump’s top economic advisers is insisting that the shutdown won’t affect the economy, even though we know that previous shutdowns have been a drag on the economy. So Trump is surrounded by people telling him to stay the course, whatever the cost to federal workers and the people they serve. 

But soon he’s going to be dealing with Nancy Pelosi.