President Trump Calls Government Shutdown an Anniversary ‘Present’ From the Democrats

President Donald Trump on Twitter blamed the government shutdown on the Democrats, calling it an anniversary present from the party.

The shutdown, 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.”

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!”

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 — 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, which had previously expired in September.

During the shutdown, 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.