--- description: President Donald Trump called the government shutdown, which coincides with his inauguration anniversary, a "nice present" from Democrats. title: Trump Calls Government Shutdown a 'Present' from Democrats image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7c66f22132a097ae/6988f8dd096a94963d6a12d5/trump-inauguration.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Congress](/tag/congress/) ## Congress Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # President Trump Calls Government Shutdown an Anniversary 'Present' From the Democrats  by [Jamie Ducharme](/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Jan 20, 2018 2:34 PM CUT  President Donald Trump's Inaugural Address. President Donald Trump's Inaugural Address.Anadolu Agency—Getty Images  by [Jamie Ducharme](/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Jan 20, 2018 2:34 PM CUT President Donald Trump on Twitter blamed [the government shutdown](http://time.com/5111018/government-shutdown-senate/ "undefined") on the Democrats, calling it an anniversary present from the party. [The shutdown](http://time.com/5110952/government-shutdown-donald-trump/?xid=homepage "undefined"), which halts all but essential government activity, began at the stroke of midnight Friday, one year to the day after Trump’s inauguration. Trump wrote on Twitter that “this is the One Year Anniversary of my Presidency and the Democrats wanted to give me a nice present,” closing the tweet with the hashtag “#DemocratShutdown.” > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/954678287820902401) In separate tweets, Trump called for more Republicans to be elected in 2018, so that America can “power through mess” and be “even tougher on Crime (and Border), and even better to our Military & Veterans!” > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/954674157144477696) > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/954680914998648833) > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/954681839419101185) Senate Democrats on Friday blocked a stopgap measure that would have extended government funding by four weeks. A major sticking point in the negotiations came from Democrats’ calling for a plan that would extend protections for [“dreamer” immigrants](http://time.com/5102693/president-trump-daca-tweet/ "undefined") — those who were brought to the U.S. as children, and are now living in the country illegally. The plan did include a six-year funding extension for the [Children’s Health Insurance Plan](http://time.com/5093735/childrens-health-insurance-program-funding-delay/ "undefined"), which had previously expired in September. [During the shutdown](http://time.com/5109899/government-shutdown-explainer/ "undefined"), government activity deemed essential — such as that related to national defense and law enforcement — will continue, but thousands of other federal employees will be forced to suspend activity until the shutdown ends. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5111059/trump-anniversary-government-shutdown/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5111059/trump-anniversary-government-shutdown/"},"headline":"President Trump Calls Government Shutdown an Anniversary 'Present' From the Democrats","datePublished":"2018-01-20T14:34:43.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T18:56:55.350Z","description":"It coincides with the anniversary of his inauguration","url":"https://time.com/5111059/trump-anniversary-government-shutdown/","keywords":["Congress","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7c66f22132a097ae/6988f8dd096a94963d6a12d5/trump-inauguration.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jamie Ducharme","jobTitle":"Ducharme is a contributor to TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7c66f22132a097ae/6988f8dd096a94963d6a12d5/trump-inauguration.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"58th U.S. Presidential Inauguration","caption":"58th U.S. Presidential Inauguration","creditText":"Anadolu Agency—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/congress/","name":"Congress"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5111059/trump-anniversary-government-shutdown/","name":"President Trump Calls Government Shutdown an Anniversary 'Present' From the Democrats"}}]}] ```