WHO WILL BLINK FIRST, TRUMP OR THE DEMOCRATS?

Even without a partial shutdown, there is the clinking sound of broken glass as President Trump goes in for cuts after cuts in key programs, causing job losses and public hardship.

- M.D. NALAPAT

The shutting down of parts of the US government for two months in 2017 proved a political liability for President Donald Trump, who lost the 2020 Presidential polls to Joe Biden. However, this time around, Trump has no intention of fighting for a second term, as he has made explicit. Hence, he has nothing to lose from that point of view if the present shutdown continues for several weeks. It is a contest of wills as to who will concede first, President Trump to the demand of the Democratic Party that certain provisions of the Affordable Care Act be given a fresh lease of life, or enough Democrats ease their opposition to Trump's proposal and allow the funding bill to pass. For “strongman” Trump, to concede would be to appear weak in the eyes of his supporters, and he may have memories of the 1984-85 coal miners’ strike that was broken by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher of the UK, thereby earning her the sobriquet of “Iron Lady”. As for the Democrats, to agree to the Trump cutbacks would be to sacrifice the interests of their lower income backers in affordable healthcare, which would have a severe knockdown effect on the votes secured by them in the coming 2026 US midterm polls. President Trump has labelled this the Democratic Senate Minority Leader “Schumer lockdown”, while the party has tagged the responsibility for the shutdown on the obstinacy of President Trump, or the “Trump lockdown”.

Even without a partial shutdown, there is the clinking sound of broken glass as President Trump goes in for cuts after cuts in key programs, causing job losses and public hardship.