Even as the government shutdown was set to stretch into Wednesday and surpass the record for the longest in American history, President Trump showed no interest in negotiating with Democrats.
Instead, the administration signaled Tuesday it planned to ramp up the pain.
The president threatened on social media to deny food subsidy payments for 42 million Americans until the end of the government shutdown, in apparent defiance of a court order. (The White House press secretary later said the administration would comply with the court.)
Mr. Trump’s transportation secretary, Sean Duffy, warned he might have to close parts of the national airspace next week because of the potential “mass chaos” with air traffic controller shortages.
And the White House again left open the possibility it might not follow its legal obligation to restore back pay to furloughed workers who have missed paychecks during the shutdown.
Taken together, the administration’s message was simple: Either Democrats back down from their demand to extend expiring health care subsidies, or the fallout of the shutdown will get worse.
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