What shutdown? Trump isnt canceling travel, golf or his ballroom even with the government shuttered

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is not curbing journey. He’s not avoiding golf or making do with a skeleton workers in the West Wing. Even hamburgers served at the White House aren’t from McDonalds, this time.

In shutdowns past — including during Trump’s first time period — presidents usually scaled back their schedules. With staffers deemed “non-essential” despatched home, the White House often sought to seem sympathetic to Americans affected by disruptions to health care, veterans advantages and other key providers.

The current one has left around 750,000 federal staff furloughed and others working without pay. Funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, is lapsing after Friday.

Nonetheless, it has been largely business as traditional for Trump over the past 29 days.

“It’s like that country song: ‘Sometimes falling feels like flying for a little while,’” said Paul Begala, a Democratic strategist and former adviser to President Bill Clinton, who presided over two shutdowns between 1995 and 1996. “They seem to be like, ‘So far, so good, man.’”

Ballroom, golf and journeys

Trump is on a six-day swing through Asia, after a latest, whirlwind Middle East go to. He hosted a White House fundraiser for major donors to his $300 million ballroom that has seen construction crews tear down the East Wing, and held another fundraiser at his Florida property.

Members of the Cabinet have equally hit the highway. Vice President JD Vance traveled to Israel, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem went to Oregon and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth toured TOPGUN, the U.S. Navy’s elite fighter weapons college in Nevada.

Only 32% of workers in the Executive Office of the President had been set to be furloughed during the current shutdown, according a White House finances workplace contingency report. That’s down from 61% during the last shutdown in 2018-19, in Trump’s first time period. About half of the Executive Mansion’s workforce that contains housekeepers, ushers, valets and butlers are presently working. Last time, more than 70% had been furloughed.

It’s often been laborious to inform a shutdown is occurring with so many staffers remaining at their desks.

“I don’t even know if they’re supposed to be working, but they wouldn’t miss a day,” Trump said during an event last week.

It’s a departure from Trump’s first time period, when he cut out golf and canceled a deliberate journey to Florida for Christmas during the 2018 shutdown, which stretched into the new yr. He made a shock go to to go to troops in Iraq then, but nixed plans to go to the Swiss alps for the World Economic Forum.

When internet hosting Clemson University soccer gamers celebrating their NCAA soccer championship, Trump introduced in burgers and fries from McDonald’s and Domino’s pizza because of White House workers furloughs.

This time, the president had Republican senators over for a lunch that featured burgers, too. But workers made them. “They do great food at the White House,” Trump said.

‘A smarter approach’

Some say barreling forward like there’s no shutdown has some political benefits for Trump, permitting him to look presidential while avoiding congressional bickering.

“It’s a much smarter approach,” said Marc Short, chief of workers to former Vice President Mike Pence.

In Trump’s first-term shutdown, he rejected a congressional compromise to pressure the government to close — an attempt to win funding to wall off the U.S.-Mexico border. Then, he named Pence as lead negotiator to end the shutdown while involving his son-in-law Jared Kushner — creating the visible of them having to go to Capitol Hill.

“The first go-around, he was pretty clear with cameras rolling: He said he wanted the shutdown. He claimed ownership,” Short said. This time? “The White House has been clear about not owning it.”

Back in 1995, Begala recalled speaking strategy with Clinton during a sweaty summer season run at Fort McNair in Washington, and telling the president that Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich and his social gathering “think they can roll you,” forcing cuts to Medicare by threatening a shutdown.

Clinton responded: “‘My favorite movie’s ‘High Noon,’” Begala recalled, that means the Western in which a marshal stands up to outlaws. ”‘They do that — then I just have a Gary Cooper, High Noon moment. That’s straightforward.’”

When Gingrich later got here to the White House to negotiate, Begala said Clinton would not budge, even though some advisers urged him to cut a deal. Voters finally blamed congressional Republicans more than the White House for the government closing, and Clinton was simply reelected in 1996.

“That could have really gone badly for Clinton,” Begala said. “But he did understand that standing strong, and having a Gary Cooper moment, would be really good for him.”

Trump may in all probability discover a method to end the current shutdown if he needed to prioritize it, said Leon Panetta, who labored to end past government closures as Clinton’s chief of workers. But Trump’s “attention is focused on everything but sitting down and getting both parties together to resolve this issue,” Panetta said.

‘Continuing to work night and day’

During the 16-day government shutdown of 2013, President Barack Obama scrapped a four-country Asia trip and skipped the Congressional Hispanic Caucus gala. His schedule featured events meant to show the shutdown’s effects, including visiting a Maryland construction firm that benefited from the kind of federal loans jeopardized with the government shuttered.

In 2019, as that shutdown dragged on, Trump’s White House officials acknowledged feeling pressure to end it. This time, the administration’s approach has been to blame the Democrats, while signaling that it’s prepared to wait — even warning of coming travel delays during the Thanksgiving holidays.

“President Trump is continuing to work night and day on behalf of American people,” said White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson. “The entire administration, including the president, will continue highlighting the workers and families who are suffering because of the Democrats’ decision to shut down the government.”

Bill Daley, a White House chief of workers to Obama prior to the 2013 shutdown, said Trump is not appearing like he is feeling political heat to reopen the government, even before next Tuesday’s gubernatorial elections in Virginia and New Jersey — both home to sizable federal workforces.

“My guess is, he thinks it helps him,” Daley said, “until — and I don’t know if it will — the bottom falls out.”

Democrats are demanding an extension of expiring tax credit that have helped thousands and thousands of people afford health insurance coverage, while Republicans say they will not negotiate until the government is reopened.

Trump has said the shutdown must end, but also used it to cut federal positions and goal applications Democrats favor, while redirecting funds to his own priorities — like protecting navy paychecks. The president has even said of closed museums, “We should probably just open them.”

Americans, meanwhile, are divided on who’s to blame.

Roughly 6 in 10 say Trump and congressional Republicans have “a great deal” or “quite a bit” of duty for the shutdown, while 54% say the same about Democrats in Congress, according to a latest ballot from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Mike McCurry, a White House press secretary under Clinton, said Democrats have yet to settle on a clear shutdown message that has resonated. Trump has the presidency to ship his take, but McCurry famous he has been “mercurial.”

“It is not likely we’re going to have clear winners or losers after this,” McCurry said. “It’s going to be a bit of a muddle.”