What shutdown? Trump works, plays as usual

Unlike predecessors, president doesn’t ease schedule. It may help his image — for now.

- BY WILL WEISSERT

PRESIDENT TRUMP boards Air Force One in South Korea to return home after a six-day tour of Asia.

(MARK SCHIEFELBEIN Associated Press)

President Trump isn’t curtailing travel. He’s not avoiding golf or making do with a skeleton staff in the West Wing. Even hamburgers served at the White House aren’t from McDonald’s, this time.

In shutdowns past — including during Trump's first term — presidents normally scaled back their schedules. With staffers deemed “nonessential” sent home, the White House often sought to appear sympathetic to Americans affected by disruptions to healthcare, veterans benefits and other key services.

The current one has left about 750,000 federal employees furloughed and others working without pay. Funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is lapsing after Friday.

Nonetheless, it has been mostly business as usual for Trump over the last 30 days.

“It’s like that country song: ‘Sometimes falling feels like flying for a little while,’” said Paul Begala, a Democratic strategist and former advisor to President Clinton, who presided over two shutdowns between 1995 and 1996. “They seem to be like, ‘So far, so good, man.’”

Trump was on a six-day swing through Asia after a recent, whirlwind Middle East visit. He hosted a White House fundraiser for major donors to his $300-million ballroom that has seen construction crews tear down the East Wing, and held another fundraiser at his Florida estate.

Members of the Cabinet have similarly hit the road. Vice President JD Vance traveled to Israel, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem went to Oregon, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth toured Topgun, the Navy’s elite fighter weapons school in Nevada.