Shutdown spoils Trump’s first anniversary festivities

WASHINGTON (AP) — Talk about lousy timing.

US President Donald Trump had hoped to spend the weekend celebrating the first anniversary of his inauguration with friends at his opulent Palm Beach, Florida estate. Instead, he was reckoning with a federal government shutdown.

Trump scrapped plans to depart last Friday for his Mar-a-Lago club, where he had been set to attend the “Trump Victory Dinner,” a high-dollar fundraiser last night to commemorate his first year in office.

Instead, he spent much of the day in the Oval Office, trying to hash out a deal with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to keep the government open. As chances for a deal began to fade, he retreated to the White House residence, where he watched the drama play out on television and called friends.

Throughout the day, administration officials seemed resigned to the eventual outcome, with Budget Director Mick Mulvaney telling reporters before noon, “We are going to manage the shutdown differently.”

Even before the Senate had voted on — and failed to pass — the short-term funding bill to keep the government open, much of the West Wing had already emptied out, the press offices sitting dark.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders who slammed Senate Democrats as “obstructionist losers, not legislators,” said that until the shutdown ends, the White House will not resume negotiations on the fate of hundreds of thousands of young immigrants who entered the country illegally as children.

While White House aides did not respond to questions about the president’s weekend plans, Mulvaney told reporters he did not expect Trump to go to Florida yesterday.

“I think the president’s been very clear: He’s not leaving until this is finished,” he said.