Trump says he ‘won’t be extorted’ by Democrats, shuns negotiations as shutdown drags on

WASHINGTON AP President Donald Trump says he won t be extorted by Democrats to reopen the leadership making clear that he has no plans to negotiate as the governing body shutdown will soon enter its sixth week In an interview on CBS s Minutes that aired on Sunday Trump reported that Democrats who are demanding an extension in medical care subsidies have lost their way and predicted that they will eventually capitulate to Republicans who have noted they won t negotiate until they vote to reopen the cabinet I think they have to Trump mentioned And if they don t vote it s their matter Trump s comments signal that the shutdown could continue to drag on for chosen time as federal workers including air traffic controllers are set to miss additional paychecks and as there is uncertainty over whether million Americans who received federal food aid will be able to access the assistance Senate Democrats have now voted times against reopening the ruling body insisting that they need Trump and Republicans to negotiate with them first on an extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year Instead of negotiating the president reiterated his pleas to Republican leaders to change Senate rules and scrap the filibuster But Senate Republicans have rejected that idea arguing that the rule requiring votes to overcome any objections in the Senate is vital to the institution and has allowed them to stop Democratic policies when they are in the minority Republicans have to get tougher Trump noted in the CBS interview If we end the filibuster we can do exactly what we want With the two parties at a standstill the shutdown now in its rd day appears likely to become the longest in history The previous record was set in when Trump demanded that Congress give him money for a U S -Mexico dividing line wall A potentially decisive week Trump s push on the filibuster could prove a distraction for Senate Majority Leader John Thune R-S D and Republican senators who have opted instead to stay the discipline as the consequences of the shutdown have become more acute Republicans are hoping that at least specific Democrats will eventually give them the votes they need as moderates have been in weekslong talks with rank-and-file Republicans about promising compromises that could guarantee votes on vitality care in exchange for reopening the ruling body Republicans need five additional Democrats to pass their bill We need five with a backbone to say we care more about the lives of the American people than about gaining chosen political leverage Thune announced on the Senate floor as the Senate left Washington for the weekend on Thursday Virginia Sen Tim Kaine a Democrat mentioned on ABC s This Week on Sunday that there is a group of people talking about a path to fix the vitality care debacle and a commitment from Republicans not to fire more federal workers But it s still unclear if those talks could produce a meaningful compromise Far apart on Obamacare subsidies Trump revealed in the Minutes interview that the Affordable Care Act often known as Obamacare because it was signed and championed by former President Barack Obama is terrible and that if the Democrats vote to reopen the administration we will work on fixing the bad medical care that we have right now Democrats feel differently arguing that the marketplaces set up by the ACA are working as record numbers of Americans have signed up for the coverage But they want to extend subsidies first enacted during the COVID- pandemic so that premiums won t go up for millions of people on Jan We want to sit down with Thune with House Speaker Mike Johnson with Trump and negotiate a way to address this horrible vitality care problem Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer noted last week No appetite for bipartisanship As Democrats have pushed Trump and Republicans to negotiate Trump has exhibited little interest in doing so He straightaway called for an end to the Senate filibuster after a trip to Asia while the authorities was shut down White House Spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt explained on Sunday Morning Futures on Fox News that the president has spoken directly to both Thune and Johnson about the filibuster But a spokesman for Thune reported Friday that his position hasn t changed and Johnson explained on Sunday that Republicans traditionally have resisted calling for an end to the filibuster because it protects them from the worst impulses of the far-left Democrat Party Trump noted on Minutes that I like John Thune I think he s terrific But I disagree with him on this point The president has spent much of the shutdown mocking Democrats posting videos of House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries in a Mexican sombrero The White House website has a satirical My Space page for Democrats a parody based on the social media site that was popular in the early s We just love playing politics with people s livelihoods the page reads Democrats have repeatedly mentioned that they need Trump to get serious and weigh in Virginia Sen Mark Warner stated that he hopes the shutdown could end this week because Trump is back in Washington Republicans can t move on anything without a Trump sign off Warner declared on Face the Nation on CBS Record-breaking shutdown The -day shutdown that lasted from December to January ended when Trump retreated from his demands over a confines wall That came amid intensifying delays at the nation s airports and multiple missed paydays for hundreds of thousands of federal workers Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy disclosed on ABC s This Week that there have already been delays at several airports as air traffic controllers aren t getting paid and it s only going to get worse A large number of of the workers are confronted with a decision he revealed Do I put food on my kids table do I put gas in the car do I pay my rent or do I go to work and not get paid As flight delays around the country increased New York City s exigency management department posted on Sunday that Newark Airport was under a ground delay because of staffing shortages in the control tower and that they were limiting arrivals to the airport The average delay is about hours and particular flights are more than hours late the account posted FAA planning notes show a possibility of a full ground stop later if staffing shortages or demand increases SNAP problem Also in the crossfire are the million Americans who receive SNAP benefits The Department of Agriculture planned to withhold billion needed for payments to the food activity starting on Saturday until two federal judges ordered the administration to fund it House Democratic leader Jeffries D-N Y accused Trump and Republicans of attempting to weaponize hunger He revealed that the administration has managed to find approaches for funding other priorities during the shutdown but is slow-walking pushing out SNAP benefits despite the court orders But somehow they can t find money to make sure that Americans don t go hungry Jeffries declared in an appearance on CNN s State of the Union Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in his own CNN appearance Sunday stated the administration continues to await direction from the courts The best way for SNAP benefits to get paid is for Democrats for five Democrats to cross the aisle and reopen the administration Bessent noted Associated Press writer Aamer Madhani contributed to this review