WASHINGTON (AP) — After days of threats and demands, Donald Trump had little to show as lawmakers passed a budget deal in the early hours of Saturday, narrowly averting a pre-Christmas government shutdown.
The president-elect successfully pushed Republicans in the House of Representatives to abandon some spending, but he failed to achieve his key goal of raising the debt limit. It showed that despite his decisive election victory and habitual promises of retaliation, many members of his party are still willing to openly defy him.
Trump’s decision to wade into the budget debate a month before his inauguration also showed that he remains more adept at blowing up deals than closing them, and suggested that his second term is likely to be characterized by the same infighting, the same chaos and will be characterized by the same willingness to take risks as his first one.
“Hold on. Buckle up. Buckle up,” said Rep. Steve Womack, R-Ark., a lead appropriator.
A look at Trump’s agenda shows a cascade of possibilities for similar showdowns in the coming years. He wants to extend the tax cuts he signed into law seven years ago, reduce the size of government, boost tariffs on imports and crack down on illegal immigrants. Many of these efforts require congressional approval.
For many Trump supporters, the disruption could be their own goal. According to AP VoteCast, a comprehensive survey of more than 120,000 voters, 37 percent of those who voted for him this year said they wanted “complete and total upheaval.” Another 56% said they wanted “substantial change.”
But the last few days have highlighted how tough it could be for Trump to quickly achieve his goals, especially with Republicans holding slender majorities in the House and Senate. Some lawmakers already appear to be weary of the apparent lack of a unified strategy.
Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., said the budget dispute was “a valuable lesson in how we can pull ourselves together.”
“There are no layups and it’s getting more and more complicated,” he said.
How Trump’s demands failed
The trouble began when senior lawmakers released a copy of the bill, known as a continuing resolution, which was needed to keep the federal government functioning until March. It was not the president-elect but Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and a Trump confidant, who first stoked opposition to the law on social media by calling it excessive spending.
Trump eventually entered the fray. He ordered Republicans to scrap the bipartisan deal they had made with Democrats. And he called for an boost in the debt limit — the cap on how much the government can borrow — in hopes that this thorny issue doesn’t come up while he leads the government.
He increased the pressure even as his demands changed. First, he wanted to abolish the debt limit entirely. Then he wanted to suspend it until 2027. He then held out the prospect of an extension until 2029.
If there were a shutdown, Democratic President Joe Biden would take the blame, Trump emphasized.
“All Republicans and even Democrats should do what is best for our country and vote YES on this bill TONIGHT!” Trump wrote Thursday ahead of a vote on a version of the bill that would impose a higher debt limit.
Instead, 38 Republicans voted no. It was a stunning rebuff for Trump, whose power over his party seemed at times almost absolute.
“We should never make a deal without this,” he wrote on Truth Social, his social media page.
If he didn’t get what he wanted, there should be a government shutdown, Trump said. He also said members of his own party would face major challenges if they refused to go along, saying, “Republican obstructionists must be eliminated.” He mentioned Rep. Chip Roy of Texas by name and insulted him.
But in the end, lawmakers passed on raising the debt ceiling and a final deal was passed early Saturday.
Musk and other Trump allies tried to portray it as a victory because the final legislation was significantly slimmed down and left out unpopular items like a pay raise for members of Congress. Charlie Kirk, the prominent conservative activist, wrote on X that Trump “is already running Congress before he takes office!”
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said he was in “constant contact” with Trump, who he added was “certainly pleased with this outcome.”
If Trump agreed, he didn’t say so himself.
After days of habitual social media messages, Trump fell mute again on Friday. He did not comment on the final vote or provide any explanations. Instead, he went golfing at his resort in Florida.
Karoline Leavitt, a spokeswoman for Trump, said the president-elect helped stymie an initial deal “full of Democratic pork and pay raises for members of Congress.”
“In January, President Trump and DOGE will continue this important mission to reduce waste from Washington, one bill at a time,” she said. DOGE is a reference to the Department of Government Efficiency, an advisory body led by Musk and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.
More clashes follow
The circus-like atmosphere of the funding fight was reminiscent of Trump’s first term. Back then, a budget crisis led to a government shutdown as Trump demanded money for his U.S.-Mexico border wall. After 35 days – the longest shutdown in history – he agreed to a deal without the money he wanted.
It was a political low point for Trump, and 60% of Americans blamed him for the shutdown, according to an Associated Press and NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll at the time.
Trump didn’t stop bending the Republicans to his will. He certainly won’t do that now.
He is ratcheting up pressure on his own party over his Cabinet picks, urging hesitant Republican senators to go along with some of his most controversial choices, such as anti-vaccination activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Health and Human Services secretary and Fox News host Pete Hegseth as defense secretary.
Next year’s spending debates are sure to further test Trump’s influence in the House of Representatives. Many conservatives view the rapid growth of the federal debt as an existential threat to the country that must be addressed. But some Republicans fear a voter backlash if there are drastic cuts to the federal programs that Americans rely on.
Concerns about deficit spending could boost if Trump pushes ahead with high-priced tax cuts he promised during the campaign, such as eliminating taxes on tips, Social Security and overtime pay.
He also wants to extend the tax cuts he signed into law in 2017, which are set to expire next year. He has called for a further cut in the U.S. corporate tax rate from 21% to 15%, but only for companies that produce in the United States.
Trump has said he will offset the revenue declines with aggressive fresh tariffs that economists warn will lead to higher prices for consumers.
Rep. Dan Crenshaw of Texas said cutting spending would likely continue to represent a rift between Trump and House Republicans.
“This was never really a Trump campaign promise, but it is a big priority for House Republicans,” he said.
There was no sign of the hostility waning on Saturday. Some Republicans accused House leadership of failing to secure Trump’s “blessing” for the original deal. Democrats described Trump as second fiddle to Musk.
While Trump remained mute, Biden announced that he had signed the budget bill.
“This agreement represents a compromise, meaning neither side got everything it wanted,” he said. “But it rejects Republicans’ fast-track path to a tax cut for billionaires and ensures the government can continue to operate at full capacity.”
___ Boak reported from West Palm Beach, Florida, and Colvin reported from New York.
