President Trump said Thursday the U.S. military would “lose big” in a government shutdown, and he blamed congressional Democrats for creating a budget impasse to undercut the administration’s good economic news.
“The group that loses big would be the military, and we’re never letting our military lose,” Mr. Trump told reporters as he arrived at the Pentagon for a meeting. “We’ve just about never needed our military more than now.”
Noting the announcement by Apple Inc. of massive investments in the U.S. economy and 20,000 new jobs, the president said Democrats are trying to undermine the positive results of Republicans’ tax cuts.
“Our tax cuts and our tax reform has turned out to be far greater than anybody ever anticipated,” the president said. “I’m sure the Democrats would like to blunt that by shutting down government.”
Asked if a shutdown is likely, the president said, “It could happen. We’ll see what happens. It’s up to the Democrats.”
Congress faces a Friday deadline to approve a spending bill, or the government would partially shut down at midnight. Democrats are insisting on a solution to a program for young illegal immigrants as part of the agreement.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.