Where is Donald Trump? Washington D.C. analyst explains why the president is hiding during the shutdown

The U.S. government has been shut down since a minute past midnight on October 1, and as of Sunday afternoon, the shutdown continues.

President Trump has been notably absent from the airwaves, having given only one interview — with One America News Network — since the shutdown began, though he has remained active on his Truth Social platform.

Haberman on Trump’s approach to the shutdown

Maggie Haberman spoke on CNN to explain why she believes Trump has stayed quiet during the shutdown.

The analyst said she thinks the president is listening to his advisers, who are trying to “stop him from being the face” of the shutdown.

That’s in stark contrast to the last government shutdown, in 2019, when Trump not only embraced responsibility for it but actively called for it. According to CNN’s analysis, that was because Trump believed the shutdown was worth it to push his agenda on closing the Mexican border.

Haberman added that Trump may still end up “owning the shutdown” this time as well, because the crisis “affects real people’s lives,” and “voters will decide what they end up thinking of it.”

She also noted that while Trump has avoided public comment about the shutdown, his Truth Social post about cutting federal agencies was not a good example of disciplined messaging.

Trump posted:

“I have a meeting today with Russ Vought, he of PROJECT 2025 Fame, to determine which of the many Democrat Agencies, most of which are a political SCAM, he recommends to be cut, and whether or not those cuts will be temporary or permanent. I can’t believe the Radical Left Democrats gave me this unprecedented opportunity. They are not stupid people, so maybe this is their way of wanting to, quietly and quickly, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! President DJT”

As Haberman pointed out on CNN, calling the agencies “Democrat” made little sense, since “every single federal agency is run by someone the president hand-picked to be in that role.”

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