Trump pushes Republicans to shut down government unless they ‘get everything’ from Democrats

Former President Donald Trump on Monday urged right-wing congressional Republicans to shut down the government “unless you get everything” in crunch talks.

As a weekend deadline looms large, Trump called on his followers to refuse to compromise with moderates who want to pass a spending bill that could avert a shutdown.

“Unless you get everything, shut it down!” Trump wrote on his social media site early Monday morning. “It’s time Republicans learned how to fight!”

Trump suggested Democrats close the border with Mexico and stop the investigations into his effort to overturn the 2020 election in exchange for keeping the government open.

He claimed that the public would blame President Joe Biden if Republicans fail to pass a stopgap spending bill to keep the government running.

“Whoever is president will be blamed, in this case, Joe Biden,” he asserted.

In fact, history says it’s likely voters will blame the Republican-led House because they are trying to use the potential shutdown as leverage to impose other priorities, like unpopular cuts to domestic spending.

Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, the firebrand leader of a faction of far right-wing lawmakers, reposted Trump’s message.

He cited it as evidence that the former president is siding with him and against House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who is trying to cobble together a deal.