WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump isn’t restricting travel. He neither avoids golf nor settles for a meager staff in the West Wing. Even the hamburgers served in the White House don’t come from McDonald’s this time.
During previous shutdowns — including during Trump’s first term — presidents have typically shortened their timelines. As employees deemed “non-essential” were sent home, the White House often tried to appear compassionate to Americans affected by disruptions to health care, veterans’ benefits and other vital services.
The current rule has resulted in approximately 750,000 federal employees being furloughed and others working without pay. Funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will expire after Friday.
Still, it’s been mostly business as usual for Trump over the past 29 days.
“It’s like that country song: ‘Sometimes falling feels like you’re flying for a while,'” said Paul Begala, a Democratic strategist and former adviser to President Bill Clinton who oversaw two shutdowns between 1995 and 1996. “They seem to be saying, ‘So far, so good, man.'”
Ballroom, golf and excursions
Trump is on a six-day tour of Asia after a recent, turbulent visit to the Middle East. He held a fundraiser at the White House for major donors for his $300 million ballroom, where construction crews demolished the East Wing, and held another fundraiser at his Florida estate.
Members of the Cabinet have also made their way. Vice President JD Vance traveled to Israel, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem traveled to Oregon and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth toured TOPGUN, the U.S. Navy’s elite combat arms school in Nevada.
According to an emergency report from the White House Budget Office, only 32% of employees in the Executive Office of the President should be furloughed during the current shutdown. That’s down from 61% during the last shutdown in 2018-19, in Trump’s first term. About half of the Executive Mansion team, which includes housekeepers, ushers, valets and butlers, is currently on duty. Last time, more than 70% were furloughed.
With so many employees sitting at their desks, it is often challenging to detect that a shutdown is occurring.
“I don’t even know if they should work, but they wouldn’t miss a day,” Trump said during an event last week.
It’s a departure from Trump’s first term, when he gave up golf and canceled a planned trip to Florida for Christmas during the 2018 shutdown that extended into the recent year. At the time, he made a surprise visit to visit troops in Iraq but scrapped plans to travel to the Swiss Alps for the World Economic Forum.
When Trump hosted Clemson University football players to celebrate their NCAA football championship, he brought burgers and fries from McDonald’s and Domino’s Pizza because the White House staff was on leave.
This time the president invited Republican senators to a lunch that included burgers. But the staff made them. “There’s great food in the White House,” Trump said.
“A smarter approach”
Some say there are political advantages for Trump to rush forward as if there is no shutdown because it allows him to look like a president while avoiding congressional squabbles.
“This is a much smarter approach,” said Marc Short, chief of staff to former Vice President Mike Pence.
During Trump’s first shutdown, he rejected a congressional compromise that would force a government shutdown in an attempt to raise funds to seal the U.S.-Mexico border. He then appointed Pence as the lead negotiator to end the shutdown and included his son-in-law Jared Kushner – creating the image that they had to go to Capitol Hill.
“On the first pass, he made it pretty clear in front of the cameras: He said he wanted the shutdown. He claimed ownership,” Short said. This time? “The White House has made it clear that it is not the owner.”
In 1995, Begala recalled discussing strategy with Clinton during a sweaty summer run at Fort McNair in Washington, telling the president that Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich and his party “think they can overwhelm you” by forcing cuts to Medicare by threatening a shutdown.
Clinton replied: “‘My favorite movie’ is ‘High Noon,'” Begala recalled, referring to the Western in which a marshal fights off outlaws. “‘You do that – then I just have a Gary Cooper, High Noon moment. That’s easy.'”
When Gingrich later came to the White House for negotiations, Begala said Clinton would not budge, even though some aides urged him to make a deal. Voters ultimately blamed Republicans in Congress rather than the White House for the government shutdown, and Clinton was easily re-elected in 1996.
“This could have ended really badly for Clinton,” Begala said. “But he understood that it would be really good for him to stay strong and have a Gary Cooper moment.”
Trump could probably find a way to end the current shutdown if he wanted to make it a priority, said Leon Panetta, who worked as Clinton’s chief of staff to end previous government shutdowns. But Trump’s “attention is on anything but sitting down and bringing both parties together to solve this problem,” Panetta said.
“Continue working day and night”
During the 16-day government shutdown in 2013, President Barack Obama skipped a four-country trip to Asia and skipped the Congressional Hispanic Caucus gala. His schedule included events designed to show the impact of the shutdown, including a visit to a construction company in Maryland that benefited from federal loans that were jeopardized by the government shutdown.
In 2019, as that shutdown dragged on, Trump’s White House officials admitted they felt pressure to end it. This time, the administration has blamed Democrats while signaling it is willing to wait — even warning of impending travel delays during the Thanksgiving holiday.
“President Trump continues to advocate for the American people day and night,” said White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson. “The entire administration, including the president, will continue to highlight the workers and families who are suffering because of Democrats’ decision to shut down the government.”
Bill Daley, Obama’s White House chief of staff before the 2013 shutdown, said Trump was not behaving as if he felt a political urge to reopen the government, even ahead of next Tuesday’s gubernatorial elections in Virginia and New Jersey – both home to sizable federal workforces.
“I suspect he thinks it will help him,” Daley said, “until — and I don’t know if it will — the bottom falls out.”
Democrats are demanding an extension of the expiring tax credits that helped millions of people afford health insurance, while Republicans say they won’t negotiate until the government reopens.
Trump has said the shutdown must end, but also used it to cut federal funding and target programs that Democrats favor, while diverting money to his own priorities — such as covering military paychecks. The president has even said of closed museums, “We should probably just open them.”
Meanwhile, Americans are divided over who is to blame.
According to a recent poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, about six in 10 say Trump and congressional Republicans bear “a lot” or “quite a lot” of responsibility for the shutdown, while 54% say the same about congressional Democrats.
Mike McCurry, Clinton’s White House press secretary, said Democrats had not yet agreed on a clear shutdown message that was well received. Trump has the presidency to express his opinions, but McCurry noted he has been “inconsistent.”
“It’s unlikely we’ll have clear winners or losers after this,” McCurry said. “It’s going to be a bit of a mess.”
