--- title: Trump Blindly Claims Democrats Are Most Impacted by Shutdown description: President Trump tweeted that most federal employees who are not receiving paychecks because of the U.S. government shutdown are Democrats. canonical: https://time.com/5489236/trump-claims-democrats-most-impacted-shutdown/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-12-27T17:19:08.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-13T08:18:32.864Z article:section: Politics og:title: President Trump Claims Without Evidence That Most Federal Employees Impacted by Shutdown Are Democrats og:description: Trump pivoted after saying Tuesday that most federal workers support the shutdown og:url: https://time.com/5489236/trump-claims-democrats-most-impacted-shutdown/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9df0de29b6136f31/6989424eb21a9cd7ef4ffcbe/trump-democrats-impacted-shutdown.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: trump-democrats-impacted-shutdown og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Trump Claims Without Evidence That Most Federal Employees Impacted by Shutdown Are Democrats twitter:description: Trump pivoted after saying Tuesday that most federal workers support the shutdown twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9df0de29b6136f31/6989424eb21a9cd7ef4ffcbe/trump-democrats-impacted-shutdown.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Trump Claims Without Evidence That Most Federal Employees Impacted by Shutdown Are Democrats > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=054f9ba9-0217-4959-a6ee-3db1d019eabc&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: President Trump, on Christmas, Vows Government Shutdown Will Last Until He Gets Wall Funding [Watch (HLS stream): President Trump, on Christmas, Vows Government Shutdown Will Last Until He Gets Wall Funding](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/gAcsQUSB.m3u8) (2:31)  _Published 2018-12-25. President Donald Trump says parts of the government will stay shut as long as Democrats refuse to build more barriers on the U.S.-Mexico border._ by [Alyza Sebenius / Bloomberg](https://time.com/author/bloomberg/) ## Alyza Sebenius / Bloomberg Contributor Dec 27, 2018 5:19 PM UTC President Donald Trump says parts of the government will stay shut as long as Democrats refuse to build more barriers on the U.S.-Mexico border. by [Alyza Sebenius / Bloomberg](https://time.com/author/bloomberg/) ## Alyza Sebenius / Bloomberg Contributor Dec 27, 2018 5:19 PM UTC (Bloomberg) — Donald Trump said that most federal employees who are not receiving paychecks because of the U.S. government shutdown are Democrats, after characterizing them as supporters of the wall and partial government shutdown only days ago. “Do the Dems realize that most of the people not getting paid are Democrats?” Trump tweeted Thursday morning, prompting outrage from some congressional rivals. Trump provided no evidence to support the claim, but he has been trying to blame Democrats for the partial government shutdown — now in its sixth day — that hinges on his demand for $5 billion to build a wall at the U.S.-Mexico border. On Tuesday, he told reporters in the Oval Office that furloughed federal workers are sympathetic to the shutdown because they support the wall. “Many of those workers have said to me, communicated, ‘stay out until you get the funding for the wall.’ These federal workers want the wall,” Trump said at the time. Virginia Senator Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the chamber’s intelligence committee, called Trump’s tweet “outrageous,” adding on Twitter on Thursday that “federal employees don’t go to work wearing red or blue jerseys.” Trump promised during his presidential campaign that a wall would be built along the border and Mexico would pay for it. Now he is asking Congress for the money. Democratic leaders have proposed $1.3 billion for border security. In his tweet Thursday, sent after he returned to Washington from a brief visit to Iraq, Trump wrote, “Have the Democrats finally realized that we desperately need Border Security and a Wall on the Southern Border.” > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1078260814157701121) There’s little indication of any imminent agreement to resolve the standoff as the Christmas holiday in the U.S. passed and the new Congress is set to convene next week. Trump said during his Iraq visit that the shutdown would last as long as it takes to get the funding he wants for the wall and additional border security measures. The president declined to say what level of funding he’d accept. Trump told Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, the top Democrats in the House and Senate, at a White House meeting Dec. 11 that he’d be “proud to shut down the government for border security.” But a week later, Trump’s aides signaled the White House was backing down, and the Senate passed a compromise government funding bill — without the wall money — by a unanimous voice vote. That launched a torrent of criticism from conservative media figures including Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter, who accused the president of betraying his supporters. Conservatives in the House piled on as well, prompting Trump to dig in on wall funding. ## Transcript I can't tell you when the government's going to be open. I can tell you it's not gonna be opened until we have a wall, a fence, whatever they'd like to call it. I'll call it whatever they want. But it's all the same thing. It's a barrier from people pouring into our company, into our country from drugs. Yesterday, I gave out 115 miles worth of wall. 115 miles of Texas and it's gonna be built hopefully rapidly, I'm going there at the end of January for the start of construction. That's a big stretch cuz we're talking about 500 to 550 miles of, it's a 2000 mile border but much of it has mountains and Region where you can't get across. So we're looking at between 500 and 550. So he gave out 115 yesterday, and we gave it out at a great price. The people of this country want border security. It's not a question of me, I'd rather not be doing shutdowns. I've been at the White House and I love the White House, but I wasn't able to be with my family. I thought it would be wrong for me to be with my family. My family's in Florida, Palm Beach, and I just didn't want to go down and be there when other people are hurting. But it's gonna all work out. But many of those workers have said to me and communicated Stay out of until you get the funding for the wall. These federal workers want the wall. 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