President Donald Trump is likening the federal government shutdown to a “kamikaze attack.”
Trump spoke those words during a press conference with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney Tuesday, Newsweek reported.
Trump responded to the question, “What’s your message to Democrats ahead of the next vote to open up the government?”
The president said the Democrats are to blame for the shutdown, accusing of being “like insurrectionists.”
“They’re the ones that started it. It’s almost like a kamikaze attack by them,” Trump said. “You want to know the truth? This is like a kamikaze attack.”
Watch:
The shutdown has wreaked havoc by freezing nonessential services, closeling national parks and causing disorder at airports.
The shutdown started at midnight last Wednesday when Democrat and Republican leaders could not reach an agreement on funding for the 2026 fiscal year.
Trump also spoke about reports furloughed federal employees would not receive back pay.
Again, Trump placed the blame on Democrats, adding some workers “didn’t deserve” it.
“I would say it depends on who we’re talking about. I can tell you this. The Democrats have put a lot of people in great risk and jeopardy, but it really depends on who you’re talking about,” Trump said. “But for the most part, we’re going to take care of our people. There are some people that really don’t deserve to be taken care of, and we’ll take care of them in a different way.”
