US President Donald Trump has been forced to foot the bill for a White House event as the longest ever federal government shutdown drags on with no imminent end in sight.
The president announced Monday that “because of the shutdown” he would be paying for the food served during a planned meeting with Clemson University’s football team, who won last year’s national championship.
The “all American” feast, as Trump called it, included only burgers and pizzas, because apparently most White House kitchen staff were furloughed and weren’t there to cater the event.
"Because of the shutdown, you know we have the great Clemson team with us, the national champions. So we went out and we ordered American fast food, paid for by me," Trump said. "Lots of hamburgers, lots of pizza."
The White House took the opportunity to criticize Democrats for their refusal to end the shutdown by accepting Trump’s pleas to fund a wall on the border with Mexico, which he insists is the only “real” way of protecting the country against the inflow of drugs and illegal immigrants.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee-Sanders posted a video of the event, blaming Democrats for the shutdown.
The Democrats’ refusal to compromise on border security and reopen the government didn’t stop President Trump from hosting national champion @ClemsonFB tonight. He personally paid for the event to be catered by some of America’s great fast food joints pic.twitter.com/eK4CuuBXGM
— Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) January 15, 2019
Hogan Gidley, deputy press secretary, echoed the same points in a statement to CNN later in the day.
"Because the Democrats refuse to negotiate on border security, much of the residence staff at the White House is furloughed -- so the President is personally paying for the event to be catered with some of everyone's favorite fast foods."
I just cannot get past Trump serving the Clemson football team McDonald’s. not sure anything funnier than this to me will ever happen in the White House
— call quenton nelson “big chungus” (@Brohan_Cruyff) January 15, 2019
I guarantee Trump ate the leftovers from Clemson visiting the White House.
— Iman (@Imanstah) January 15, 2019
The event came days after government workers missed their first paycheck as a result of the shutdown, which entered its fourth week on Sunday.
Around 800,000 federal employees have been on mandatory leave or working without pay for the past 24 days as Trump and Congress fight over the $5.7 billion he has requested for the wall.
Thousands of government employees have staged protests across the country, urging Trump and the lawmakers to re-open closed down federal agencies so they can get back to work.
Trump, however, remains unsympathetic.
“They are going to get their money,” he told reporters earlier on Monday. “Many of the people that aren’t being paid right now are in total agreement with us.”
“We have a priority; it’s the safety of our nation,” he added.
Trump has so far rejected several Democratic and Republican offers to end the stalemate, saying he would only accept solutions that include funding for his wall.
Trump’s opponents have jokingly suggested that he can use his own money to build the barrier and ask Mexico for a refund, poking fun at his campaign claim that the southern neighbor would pay for the wall.