The United States government has been shut down for nearly three days, but the Trump administration still seems at odds with itself over the most basic, fundamental question at play: Is it a good thing or a bad thing that this is happening?
The people who work inside the White House sound terribly torn.
On the one hand, President Trump has called the shutdown an “unprecedented opportunity” to hack away at pieces of the federal bureaucracy he does not like. Plus, he has figured out how to weaponize it against his political enemies. And even though thousands of people are facing layoffs and critical services are being cut, he is evidently pleased with the meme potential the shutdown has inspired. All week long, the president has been posting trollish, A.I.-generated content having to do with the situation.
Vice President JD Vance was asked on Wednesday about one such meme Mr. Trump had posted. “Oh, I think it’s funny,” Mr. Vance said. “The president’s joking and we’re having a good time.”
The vice president continued: “We’re all trying to do a very important job for the American people. The president of the United States likes to have a little bit of fun when he’s doing it.”
This spirit of shutdown fun was not consistent with the message delivered by the White House press secretary on Friday.
“There are significant personal impacts on millions of Americans as a result of this current government shutdown,” the press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said from the podium. She said that there are 1.3 million men and women in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and Space Force who are not being paid.
“Military families are already seeking out food assistance because of financial anxiety,” she said. She described an article she read about military families near Fort Hood, Texas, having to line up outside a Y.M.C.A. food pantry at 5 in the morning.
“This madness must end,” she declared at one point.
So then, she was asked, what was with all the shutdown japery from her boss on social media? Just a night earlier, Mr. Trump had posted an A.I.-generated video of his budget chief, Russell T. Vought, dressed as the grim reaper, wielding a scythe, while A.I. versions of Mr. Trump and Mr. Vance (both draped in black cloaks as well) played percussion set to the Blue Öyster Cult jam “(Don’t Fear) the Reaper.”
“Look,” Ms. Leavitt said, “the president likes to have a little fun every now and then.”
“We don’t like laying people off,” she insisted. “Nobody takes joy in that around here.” (She did not define the difference between “fun” and “joy.”)
“If you think that,” she continued, “then I think that’s very sad, you view the White House and our staff as wanting to put people out of work. Nobody wants to do that, but sometimes in government you have to make tough decisions.”
Ms. Leavitt’s explanation that these unfortunate firings must be carried out was about as puzzling as her saying that no one at the White House was enjoying what was happening even as they were posting online, seeming very much to enjoy what was happening.
It is out of the ordinary to use a government shutdown to fire people. The way this usually goes down is that workers get furloughed during a shutdown, and then often many of them get back pay once it ends. Already, lawsuits are being brought against the Trump administration for its efforts to straight up fire people this week.
As for the press secretary saying that “nobody” wants any of this happen? That seemed difficult to square with Mr. Trump’s assertion that “a lot of good” could come from this shutdown. “We can get rid of a lot of things that we didn’t want,” he said on Tuesday, “and they’d be Democrat things.”
Come on, baby, don’t fear the reaper — he’s just having a little fun.
Shawn McCreesh is a White House reporter for The Times covering the Trump administration.
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