U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, United States, October 9, 2025.
Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters
President Donald Trump said Thursday his administration plans to use the current government shutdown to permanently kill government programs popular with Democrats, his latest threat amid financial impasse.
“We’re just killing Democrats’ agendas,” Trump said during a Cabinet meeting at the White House.
It was not immediately clear which programs would fit that description, but Trump clarified that they were “very popular Democratic programs that are not popular with Republicans, frankly.”
“They wanted to do this,” Trump said, doubling down on blaming Democrats for the shutdown.
“So we will have a little taste of their own medicine,” he added.
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