Trump is getting most of the blame for the government shutdown, poll finds

(Image credit: Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

last updated 28 December 2018

Six days into a partial government shutdown, with no end in sight, 47 percent of American adults blame President Trump, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released Thursday. Thirty-three percent of adults blame Democrats and another 7 percent place responsibility for congressional Republicans. Trump said on camera two weeks ago that he would be "proud to shut down the government" if the Democratic minority didn't agree to give him $5 billion for his proposed $23 billion border wall, but after Democrats refused, Trump has been using Twitter to try to unload the blame.

Americans don't appear to agree with Trump on the merits of the argument, though — only 35 percent of adults said they wanted money for the wall included in a spending bill, and just 25 percent of respondents backed Trump's position that shutting down the government was better than accepting no wall funding. The poll was conducted Dec. 21-25 among 2,400 adults across the U.S. It has a credibility interval of 2 percentage points.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.