--- title: Trump: 'I Can Relate' to Workers Who Can't Pay Their Bills description: President Donald Trump said he "can relate" to federal workers who cannot pay their bills because of the partial government shutdown. canonical: https://time.com/5494941/trump-shutdown-federal-workers-bills/ author: Tara Law article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-01-06T16:52:11.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:53:01.217Z article:section: Politics og:title: President Trump Says He 'Can Relate' to Federal Workers Who Can't Pay Their Bills og:description: "Many of those people agree 100 percent with what I’m doing” og:url: https://time.com/5494941/trump-shutdown-federal-workers-bills/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7e89616a4ca11084/698942b68fd2ee204835d855/trump-can-relate.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: President Trump Departs The White House For Camp David og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Trump Says He 'Can Relate' to Federal Workers Who Can't Pay Their Bills twitter:description: "Many of those people agree 100 percent with what I’m doing” twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7e89616a4ca11084/698942b68fd2ee204835d855/trump-can-relate.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Trump Says He 'Can Relate' to Federal Workers Who Can't Pay Their Bills ## Video: Federal Workers and Contractors Talking About How the Government Shutdown Has Impacted Their Lives [Watch (HLS stream): Federal Workers and Contractors Talking About How the Government Shutdown Has Impacted Their Lives](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/dkUkmxaQ.m3u8) (1:54)  _Published 2019-01-05. Federal workers and contractors talk about how the partial government shutdown has impacted their lives as the shutdown goes into the third week._  by [Tara Law](https://time.com/author/tara-law/)  ## Tara Law Jan 6, 2019 4:52 PM UTC  WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 6: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to the media before departing the White House for Camp David on January 6, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chris Kleponis - Pool/Getty Images) WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 6: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to the media before departing the White House for Camp David on January 6, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chris Kleponis - Pool/Getty Images)Pool—Getty Images .S. President Donald Trump speaks to the media before departing the White House for Camp David on January 6, 2019 in Washington, DC.  by [Tara Law](https://time.com/author/tara-law/)  ## Tara Law Jan 6, 2019 4:52 PM UTC President Donald Trump said he “can relate” to federal workers who cannot pay their bills because of the partial government shutdown. Trump was asked by a reporter on Sunday if he could understand what federal workers who cannot pay their bills are going through. The shutdown has led to [about 800,000 workers](http://time.com/5492953/government-shutdown-effects/) being furloughed or expected to work without pay. “I can relate, and I’m sure that the people that are on the receiving end will make adjustments, they always do, and they’ll make adjustments,” Trump said. “People understand exactly what’s going on. But many of those people that won’t be receiving a paycheck, many of those people agree 100 percent with what I’m doing.” On Friday, the President said that he was willing to allow the shutdown to last [“months or even years”](http://time.com/5494324/trump-resists-opening-government-amid-shutdown/) if funding is not allotted for a border wall. Although Sunday marks 16 days since the government shutdown, Congress does not appear to be close to reaching an agreement on the budget. President Trump tweeted yesterday that there had been “not much headway” in negotiations. > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1081658090792148993) Experts say that the federal government has already cost the country [billions of dollars](http://time.com/money/5494004/government-shutdown-costs-trump-border-wall/). > [](https://twitter.com/KellyO/status/1081928168838230017) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5494941/trump-shutdown-federal-workers-bills/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5494941/trump-shutdown-federal-workers-bills/"},"headline":"President Trump Says He 'Can Relate' to Federal Workers Who Can't Pay Their Bills","datePublished":"2019-01-06T16:52:11.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:53:01.217Z","description":"\"Many of those people agree 100 percent with what I’m doing”","url":"https://time.com/5494941/trump-shutdown-federal-workers-bills/","keywords":["White House","politics","trump","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7e89616a4ca11084/698942b68fd2ee204835d855/trump-can-relate.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tara Law","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tara-law/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7e89616a4ca11084/698942b68fd2ee204835d855/trump-can-relate.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"President Trump Departs The White House For Camp David","caption":"President Trump Departs The White House For Camp David","creditText":"Pool—Getty Images .S. 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