A new report in The Atlantic highlights how President Donald Trump has "been busy with everything but the government shutdown," noting he is missing in action with his intentionally "aloof" approach to negotiations. And Republicans are starting to push back.
In the 29 days since the shutdown started, Trump, reports The Atlantic, "has not traveled to Capitol Hill to jump-start negotiations, brought congressional leaders to the White House to broker a deal, or given a speech to the American public about the crisis."
Instead, the report notes, Trump has traveled out of the country twice, demolished the East Wing of the White House to make way for his $300 billion ballroom, posted AI videos of himself and prosecuted his political enemies — all while granting clemency to his allies including disgraced former Rep. George Santos (R-NY).
"But when it comes to the government shutdown, Trump barely seems to be paying attention," The Atlantic says, adding that some of the president's aloofness according to sources, "is by design."
This new approach — or lack thereof —"is a departure from how Trump handled a shutdown during his first term, when, over the course of 35 days, he employed tactics that are a lot more standard for a president," they write.
"Republicans have begun to push back against Trump’s absentee approach. They’re signaling publicly and in private that they want him to employ an The Art of the Deal-type strategy and help end the shutdown," The Atlantic says.
Trump is “the leader of the band,” Senator Jim Justice of West Virginia told reporters recently. “So at some point in time, the leader of the band is going to step up and guide us.”
“I suggest President Trump come forward and name three Republicans and three Democrats in the Senate to an official commission to figure this out,” Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said on Fox News Sunday.
Some of the president's advisors told The Atlantic that he is "distracted" by foreign policy, which includes a tenuous ceasefire in Gaza and his current Asia trip, among other things, "as large swaths of the bureaucracy remain closed and hundreds of thousands of employees go without pay."
Republicans who thought they were winning the shutdown battle have been surprised by the Democrats unity on their demands to expand healthcare subsidies and, says The Atlantic, "Trump could soon confront the reality that when a crisis hits, the public often turns to the president for leadership — or for blame."
Trump should expect the blame, they write, especially considering his stance during President Barack Obama's tenure.
“If there is a shutdown, I think it would be a tremendously negative mark on the president of the United States,” Trump said on NBC’s Today in 2011. “He’s the one that has to get people together.”
Meanwhile, writes The Atlantic, Trump is rubbing elbows with billionaire donors.
"On October 15, dozens of millionaires and billionaires gathered at the White House to sip wine and hear Trump’s vision for a grand ballroom. (Most of the attendees, among them executives from Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, and other companies, were also paying for it.)," they write.
While some Republicans cheer Democrats' dismay over the optics of this, Trump, "Democrats argue, cares more about a ballroom with a $350 million (and rising) price tag than about keeping prices and health-care costs down for average Americans" — a line that has become the party's "go-to talking point."
Trump has "shown no interest" in opening the government, The Atlantic says. Representative Don Bacon (R-NE) says it would be "helpful" if the president got involved.
“I’m for negotiating now,” he told The Atlantic.
Trump, however, seems only open to listening to his "hardliners" such as Project 2025 architect and Office of Management and Budget director Russell Vought and deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, The Atlantic says.
"But many in the West Wing have taken notice of the growing number of polls showing that Americans are predominantly blaming the White House and Republicans for the shutdown," The Atlantic says.
Republican strategist Doug Heye says everyone's waiting on Trump's next move — or lack thereof.
“Nothing is going to happen before November 1,” he told The Atlantic. “And that’s when we’ll learn where the pressure points are.”