Trump teases potential government shutdown at Pentagon visit
During a morning visit to the Pentagon on on Thursday, President Trump alluded to a possible government shutdown as Democrats and Republicans continue to dispute funding of the federal government. The current short term funding bill expires at midnight on Friday night. The federal government shuts down at 12:01 am on Saturday morning if Congress does not reach agreement on a new funding measure.
"It could happen! We'll see what happens, it's up to the Democrats," Mr. Trump told reporters before his meeting. He added, "If the country shuts down, which could very well be, the budget should be handled a lot differently than it's been handled over the last long period of time, many years."
Mr. Trump said he was at the Pentagon to express his support of the military, saying, "If for any reason it shuts down the worst thing is what happens to our military."
He said the military would "lose big" without proper funding and said the nation "just about never needed our military more than now." He added, "our military has to be the best by far."
He also touted the administraiton's efforts in providing tax cuts that "turned out to be far greater" than originally perceived.
His visit will be closed to the press but he will down with Department of Defense Secretary James Mattis along with other Senior military leadership members as well as Vice President Mike Pence.
The visit to the nation's defense headquarters comes as North and South Korea show signs of progress in their diplomatic discussions surrounding the upcoming Winter Olympic Games. But in an interview with Reuters on Wednesday, the president blamed Russia for helping North Korea get supplies and avoid international sanctions.
Further, the North is closing in on being able to reach the U.S. with a long-range missile, he told Reuters.
"Russia is not helping us at all with North Korea," Trump said Wednesday. "What China is helping us with, Russia is denting. In other words, Russia is making up for some of what China is doing."
Following his meeting, Mr. Trump is set to depart for Pennsylvania where he will be delivering remarks on the Republican-crafted tax overhaul plan he signed into law just before the new year as well as the economy.