--- title: Donald Trump: Government Shutdown a 'Present' From Democrats description: President Donald Trump called the government shutdown, which coincides with his inauguration anniversary, a "nice present" from Democrats. canonical: https://time.com/5111059/trump-anniversary-government-shutdown/ author: Jamie Ducharme article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-01-20T14:34:43.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-12T08:46:58.408Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump Calls Government Shutdown a 'Present' from Democrats og:description: It coincides with the anniversary of his inauguration og:url: https://time.com/5111059/trump-anniversary-government-shutdown/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7c66f22132a097ae/6988f8dd096a94963d6a12d5/trump-inauguration.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: 58th U.S. Presidential Inauguration og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump Calls Government Shutdown a 'Present' from Democrats twitter:description: It coincides with the anniversary of his inauguration twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7c66f22132a097ae/6988f8dd096a94963d6a12d5/trump-inauguration.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Trump Calls Government Shutdown an Anniversary 'Present' From the Democrats > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=d98288b0-4110-480d-8ecc-55835c89e103&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Donald Trump Keeps Arguing a Shutdown Will ‘Devastate’ the Military. That’s Not Exactly True [Watch (HLS stream): Donald Trump Keeps Arguing a Shutdown Will ‘Devastate’ the Military. That’s Not Exactly True](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/vnwGxGQO.m3u8) (1:57)  _Published 2018-01-18. President Donald Trump has repeatedly argued that a looming government shutdown would hurt the military._  by [Jamie Ducharme](https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Jan 20, 2018 2:34 PM UTC  by [Jamie Ducharme](https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Jan 20, 2018 2:34 PM UTC President Donald Trump on Twitter blamed [the government shutdown](http://time.com/5111018/government-shutdown-senate/) on the Democrats, calling it an anniversary present from the party. [The shutdown](http://time.com/5110952/government-shutdown-donald-trump/?xid=homepage), 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/) — 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/), which had previously expired in September. [During the shutdown](http://time.com/5109899/government-shutdown-explainer/), 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. ## Transcript If the country shuts down, which could very well be, if for any reason it shuts down, the worst thing is what happens to our military. We're rebuilding our military. We're bringing it to a level that it's never been at. And the worst thing is for our military. We don't want that to happen, I'm here to support our military. 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