What did Donald Trump do today?

He said he'd use the shutdown to hurt Americans he doesn't like, just like he was told to by the Project 2025 people.

As has often been the case while Trump is president, the federal government is shut down due to a budget impasse in Congress—of which Trump's party controls both houses. His political strategy this time has been to gloat that a non-functioning government will somehow give him free rein to hurt Democrats and other Americans he considers his enemies, as he reiterated in a post to his private microblogging service this morning:

 

There are a few issues with this approach—beyond the part where Trump is openly embracing the core fascist principle that government's purpose is to reward the leader's supporters and punish his opponents. For one, there's a lot of evidence to suggest that this is yet another empty bluff. Mass firings ironically require a lot of worker hours, and sources say they're not happening in the relevant offices.

Another problem is that after the orgy of firings in Trump's first few months, in pursuit of "savings" that never came, the Trump administration has been quietly rehiring many of those same workers in order to bring essential government services back up to a bare minimum of functionality. In effect, Trump's Department of Government "Efficiency" has given thousands of federal employees what amounts to months-long paid vacations.

Trump's mention of Russell Vought and Project 2025 is interesting, too. When the ultra-conservative blueprints for a second Trump term were leaked during the 2024 campaign, the reaction from the public to its core ideas was extremely negative—so much so that Trump swore up and down he had nothing to do with its "bad ideas." It's not clear if anyone believed him at the time, given that 144 of his former White House staff and campaign officials worked on it and were reappointed in large numbers to the key positions they'd identified as central to Project 2025's goals when he returned to office. 

Much of Trump's second term has been characterized by how little direct control he seems to have over the day-to-day operations of his administration, which he's ceded to various power brokers including those Project 2025 alums. It's possible that Trump simply forgot he'd ever denied putting Vought's team in charge, but given how susceptible a Trump White House has been to palace intrigue over the years, it's also possible that Trump wasn't the actual author of the post acknowledging them.

As was the case under previous Trump shutdowns—all of which also involved full Republican control of Congress—the public overwhelmingly blames him.

Why does this matter?

• American government is of the people, by the people, for the people—not just the people Donald Trump thinks should get it. 

• Trump personally doesn't feel the effects of government shutdowns, but other Americans do. 

• Lying during political campaigns is one thing for a politician, but it's a bad sign if he can't remember the lies well enough to stay consistent.