The U.S President Donald Trump said that government workers not being paid due to the shutdown will have to make adjustments. He insisted that he could feel the pain of those facing hardship. The shutdown triggered by the president’s refusal to compromise on a spending bill that doesn’t include $5 billion to construct a border wall entered its 3rd week. Trump informed reporters that he didn’t expect any imminent breakthrough.
Trump informed reporters at the White House before leaving for staff meetings at Camp David that it’s going to be solved by the principals. He said that he didn’t expect to have anything happen at that meeting, but said he believed we’re going to have some very serious talks come Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. The president said when asked directly if he could relate to the pain of federal workers who cannot pay their bills, he said, “And I’m sure that the people that are on the receiving end will make adjustments. They always do. And they’ll make adjustments. 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% with what I’m doing”.
It is noteworthy that at least 800,000 federal workers across the country are facing financial uncertainty. More than 420,000 employees considered essential and are working without pay. Another 380,000 have been ordered to stay home. Trump said last week that he could keep parts of the government shut for months or even years if he didn’t receive the $5.6 billion in funding for the border wall. Democrats said that they would agree to a measure to provide $1.3 billion for border security measures but not to construct a border wall.