Trump tells Maria Bartiromo Democrats 'made one mistake' with government shutdown
President Donald Trump told Fox News' Maria Bartiromo on "Sunday Morning Futures" that Democrats "made one mistake" with the ongoing government shutdown.
"I think they could just stay out forever, I mean, to be honest with you. Now, what we're doing is we're cutting Democrat programs that we didn't want because... I mean, they made one mistake. They didn't realize that that gives me the right to cut programs that Republicans never wanted. You know, giveaways, welfare programs, et cetera. And we're doing that, and we're cutting them permanently," Trump said in an interview that will air this upcoming Sunday at 10 a.m. ET.
Bartiromo asked the president, "Do you think that the government shutdown is all about this rally that's happening this weekend, the ‘No Kings’ rally?"
"I mean, some people say they want to delay it for that. This is not a king, you know, they're saying, they're referring to me as a king. I'm not a king," Trump responded.
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"No, but just so that Chuck Schumer could go and say, ‘I'm fighting Trump,'" Bartiromo said.
"Well, Chuck is, you know, at the end of the line. He's being beaten by everybody that they poll against him," Trump said. "And you know what he did is he did the right thing a couple of years ago on something like this. And he got hurt by his party. And it doesn't ... I don't think it matters to him. I think he's just so dead that he'll do anything."
"We're cutting a $20 billion project that Schumer fought for 15 years to get, and I'm cutting the project. The project is gonna be dead. It's just pretty much dead right now," Trump also said.
Trump said he has "terminated" billions of federal dollars for the Gateway Project, which is funding a new train tunnel under the Hudson River connecting New Jersey and New York.
Hours into the ongoing federal government shutdown, the Trump administration announced the freezing of billions of dollars for the tunnel, as well as for the extension of New York City's Second Avenue Subway.
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A week ago, Trump also wrote on Truth Social, "It has just been learned that China has taken an extraordinarily aggressive position on Trade in sending an extremely hostile letter to the World, stating that they were going to, effective November 1st, 2025, impose large scale Export Controls on virtually every product they make, and some not even made by them."
"Based on the fact that China has taken this unprecedented position, and speaking only for the U.S.A., and not other Nations who were similarly threatened, starting November 1st, 2025 (or sooner, depending on any further actions or changes taken by China), the United States of America will impose a Tariff of 100% on China, over and above any Tariff that they are currently paying," Trump wrote.
The Peterson Institute for International Economics assessed that the average U.S. tariffs on Chinese exports now stands at 57.6%, meaning the new tariffs would be around 157%.
When asked if that number could stand, Trump told Bartiromo, "It’s not sustainable, but that’s what the number is. It’s probably not, you know, it could stand, but they forced me to do that."
"We’ll see what happens with China. I’ve always had a great relationship with [Chinese President Xi Jinping], as you know, but they are always looking for an edge," Trump added.
"We are going to meet in a couple weeks, we are going to meet in South Korea actually with President Xi and other people too," he said.
Trump said that ultimately, "We have to have a fair deal, it’s got to be fair."
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"We have a very strong adversary, and they only respect strength, they really do," the president added.
Fox News' Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.
