Trump says he's still 'proud' of the shutdown

President Donald Trump
(Image credit: Alex Wong / Staff)

President Trump says he's proud of the partial government shutdown just as he previously predicted.

Asked Friday whether his feeling from December, when he said he would be "proud to shut down the government," still stands, Trump said that he is indeed proud to be "doing what I'm doing." He said, though, that "I don't call it a shutdown" but that he's just "doing what you have to do for the benefit and the safety of our country."

Trump in recent weeks has attempted to pin blame for the shutdown on Democrats, even though he said in December that he'd own the shutdown if it happened. But Trump has repeatedly referenced what he calls the "Democrat shutdown." The shutdown began when Trump refused to sign a spending bill that did not contain $5 billion for border wall funding.

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He also said that it doesn't matter what the shutdown is dubbed. "You can call it whatever you want. You can call it the Schumer or the Pelosi or the Trump shutdown. It doesn't make any difference to me. It's just words." Watch Trump's comments below. Brendan Morrow

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Brendan Morrow

Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.