Donald Trump‬, ‪Government shutdown in the United States‬, ‪The Pentagon‬‬

Trump misfires with claim that military would ‘shut down’ during government shutdown

“A government shutdown will be devastating to our military . . . something the Dems care very little about!”
— President Trump, in a tweet, Jan. 18

“If for any reason it shuts down, the worst thing is what happens to our military. We’re rebuilding our military. We’re making it — we’re bringing it to a level that it’s never been at. And the worst thing is for our military.”
— Trump, remarks to reporters at the Pentagon, Jan. 18

President Trump warns that the U.S. military would be hit hardest by a government shutdown. The president also tweeted Jan. 12 that Democrats in Congress would be “shutting down the military” unless they strike a deal with Republicans that keeps the federal government funded past the end of January.

It’s hard to nail down what Trump is warning about, since he is not especially precise. The president claims at some points that a shutdown would set back one of his priorities — upgrading the military — and at other points that a shutdown means “shutting down the military” or “devastating” it.

Despite President Trump’s warnings about a devastating impact to the U.S. military in the case of a government shutdown, the military will keep running as usual if Congress can’t reach a temporary budget deal by midnight Friday.

“If for any reason it shuts down, the worst thing is what happens to our military,” Trump said during a press conference Thursday at the Pentagon. “We're rebuilding our military, we're making us — we're bringing it to a level that it's never been at. And the worst thing is for our military; we don't want that to happen. I'm here to support our military.” He’d tweeted similar messages in the past week