The final time the federal government ran out of cash, President Donald Trump wished the world to know he was making sacrifices.
“I am all alone (poor me) in the White House,” he tweeted on Christmas Eve 2018, left behind in dreary, shutdown Washington, DC, as his household made merry at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
“I haven’t actually left the White House in months,” he stated just a few weeks later, bemoaning the lengthy stretches of cooped-up time. So lonely was Trump that he took to waving forlornly out the window at machine gun-toting guards patrolling the White House grounds (“They don’t, like, wave,” he noticed).
Back then, Trump appeared conscious that weekly visits to his seaside mansion or prolonged journeys abroad would possibly seem insensitive as federal staff went with out pay and government companies floor to a halt. He referred to as off a visit to Switzerland for the glittering World Economic Forum in Davos, however did make a shock cease in Iraq to greet troops round Christmas.
It’s a unique story this 12 months. Trump has spent two weekends at Mar-a-Lago since the shutdown started on October 1, and performed a spherical of golf at his membership in Virginia. On Wednesday — as the shutdown becomes the longest in American historical past — he’ll journey to Miami for a speech to a monetary convention. He’s anticipated again at his Palm Beach property by Friday night.
He’s additionally made two separate journeys overseas: to Israel and Egypt, to preside over the Gaza ceasefire he helped dealer; and a three-nation swing via Asia, the place he brokered a number of commerce offers whereas being met with lavish receptions and golden tributes, together with an historic Korean crown and a brownie.
If Trump is anxious about showing disconnected from the struggles of furloughed staff, stranded vacationers or apprehensive food stamp beneficiaries, there isn’t a lot proof.
Before leaving for Florida final week, Trump posted 24 photographs of a guest bathroom he renovated in the White House residence, capturing particulars like a gold hand bathe, crystal chandelier and terrycloth bathrobe embroidered with the presidential seal, all encased in “highly polished statuary marble.” From the window, one may glimpse the torn-apart East Wing, whose demolition to make means for Trump’s long-desired 90,000-square-foot ballroom started just a few weeks into the shutdown.
A number of hours later, he was strolling into the ballroom at Mar-a-Lago for a “Great Gatsby”-themed Halloween get together, the place dancers in beaded fringe carried out atop outsized champagne coupes. If F. Scott Fitzgerald’s disillusioned narrative of Jazz Age hedonism struck any of the friends as odd on the day meals stamps have been set to expire, they didn’t present it. “A little party never killed nobody” was the theme, apparently devised with out reaching the finish of the novel.
Before leaving Florida final weekend, Trump made a detour at the airport to examine his personal black-and-red Boeing 757, which he used to journey the nation throughout his presidential marketing campaign final 12 months. The jet is upholstered in cream leather-based; its seatbelt buckles are plated in 24-carat gold.
Back aboard the comparatively un-golden Air Force One, Trump departed Palm Beach on schedule. Around the remainder of the nation on Sunday, greater than 5,000 flights touring from and to US airports have been delayed, partially due to staffing shortages amongst unpaid air traffic controllers.
The White House didn’t provide an actual rationalization for why Trump’s method to journey had modified since the final government shutdown.
“While Democrats shut down the government to use struggling American families — by their own admission — as ‘leverage’ for their radical political agenda, President Trump is continuing to work night and day on behalf of American people,” stated Abigail Jackson, a White House spokesperson. “Whether it be ensuring troops were paid, forging historic peace deals, removing dangerous criminals from the streets, lowering prices, or securing more investments for America, President Trump will never stop delivering.”
It just isn’t solely his personal previous apply Trump is shrugging off by sustaining his common routine. Other presidents have canceled plans when government funding lapsed, together with President Barack Obama’s resolution to scrap a visit to South Asia in 2013 and President Bill Clinton’s cancellation of a visit to Japan in 1995.
Trump’s reminiscences of his self-imposed isolation in the final shutdown may very well be informing his selections this time round. As that shutdown neared its finish, the president’s cabin fever was evident, in accordance to aides. He began a number of conferences muttering, “Welcome to paradise.”
By the time it was over, it wasn’t clear what if something Trump had gained from the ordeal, apart from most Americans’ blame. His resolution to forgo weekends in Florida didn’t seem to yield a lot political profit. He agreed to reopen the government having secured none of the border wall funding he was demanding.
At the time, Trump’s aides have been keen to painting the president tapping his toe, ready round the White House for Democrats to return for talks to finish the funding deadlock.
Now, it’s Democrats who say they’re ready for Trump to have interaction in negotiations to reopen the federal government. They have insisted well being care packages be addressed as a part of any funding measure.
“If the president engages, we will find a deal I think within hours,” Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia stated Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.”
Quiet discussions this week between Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill have led to some optimism the shutdown could also be approaching its finish.
Trump, nonetheless, has proven little willingness to negotiate. He advised “60 Minutes” he gained’t be “extorted” by Democrats. And he’s insisted the quickest means to finish the shutdown is for Senate Republicans to jettison the filibuster and reopen the government with out Democrats’ assist.
“If we do terminate the Filibuster, we will get EVERYTHING approved, like no Congress in History,” he wrote Tuesday on social media, disregarding resistance from Republican leaders who fear eliminating the 60-vote threshold for passing laws would possibly come again to hang-out them if Democrats regain the majority.
What, precisely, the president was prepared to do to persuade Republicans to fall in line wasn’t clear.
“I think you’ll see the president continue to engage very strongly and consistently with his friends on Capitol Hill,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt stated Tuesday. “I don’t have any meetings to read out for you at this time, but I think you should stay tuned and keep your eyes on Truth Social on this matter.”
Trump seems satisfied Democrats will catch the blame for the shutdown, although polls present Americans mostly holding him and the Republican Party accountable.
His technique has centered, partially, on maximizing the ache in the hopes Democrats will relent, together with by attempting to completely lay off federal staff, threatening to withhold back pay for staff as soon as the shutdown ends and halting funding for sure tasks in Democratic-led states.
While Trump and his funds officers have discovered pots of cash to hold army service personnel paid, he initially resisted tapping into contingency funds to maintain meals help packages, which 42 million low-income Americans profit from.
After two federal judges discovered fault in the administration’s refusal to fund the advantages, the administration said it would do so.
As he was flying to Florida Friday, Trump maintained he wouldn’t meet Democrats till they voted with Republicans to fund the government.
“We’ll meet very quickly, but they have to open up the country. It’s their fault. Everything is their fault. It’s so easily solved,” he advised reporters.
Before then, nonetheless, the Mar-a-Lago ballroom beckoned.
“Tonight, we have a big celebration of Halloween,” he stated, “and I’ll see you later.”