Fact Check: Did Trump once say a government shutdown 'means the president is weak'?
WASHINGTON, DC: Viral social media posts claim that President Donald Trump once said a government shutdown “means the president is weak.”
The posts refer to statements allegedly made by Trump in 2013 during a previous federal funding standoff. But how much of this story is actually true? Let's find out.
Claim: Trump said a government shutdown highlights a president’s weakness in 2013
Amid the lengthy government shutdown in 2025, posts emerged claiming that in 2013, then-businessman and reality TV host Donald Trump made a statement about government shutdowns.
The Occupy Democrats Facebook page, known for its anti-Trump stance, posted the viral meme featuring the quote, "A government shutdown falls on the president's lack of leadership. I mean, problems start from the top and they have to get solved from the top. A shutdown means the president is weak."
As per the post, Trump made the remark in 2013 during the federal government funding impasse under then-President Barack Obama.
The group also shared the post on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram with captions like, "This Trump quote aged beautifully… and for once, we agree with him!"
Numerous other users circulated the same meme, similar versions, or simply the text of the alleged quote across platforms.
One user on Bluesky also commented using the same quote from the post.
In 2013, then-businessman and reality TV host Donald Trump said: "A government shutdown falls on the president's lack of leadership. I mean, problems start from the top and they have to get solved from the top. A shutdown means the president is weak."
— Anti-NE1WhoVoted4OrngSchitzenpants (@bundlesoftruth.bsky.social) October 19, 2025 at 4:43 AM
Another user wrote in a Facebook post, "Trump may have left the country — but he can’t escape his own words from 2013!"
Similarly, users on Instagram, Threads, and X also shared the alleged quote from 2013/
Trump himself said in 2013 that a government shutdown “falls on the President’s lack of leadership.” Yet now he’s blaming Democrats for a shutdown he and his party are creating. #GOPShutdown #Hypocrisy pic.twitter.com/0M49zcqR5H
— Liberal Marine (@lessguns) October 1, 2025
Fact Check: Trump said the second sentence exactly, but not the first and third ones
Searches on Bing, DuckDuckGo, Google, and Yahoo found no record of Donald Trump making the verbatim remark about government shutdowns.
Only the second sentence was an exact quote. Reviewing his 2013 remarks on TV and X comments shows the rest of the alleged quote is a paraphrase of his public statements.
The quote in the meme is thus a mix of true and false information.
The same searches found one of the earliest-known posts containing the first and third sentences from January 20, 2018, during a government shutdown in Trump’s first term.
In a September 2013 'Fox & Friends' interview, Trump said, "When deciding who is responsible, it starts at the top, and the president must lead and bring everyone together, but he noted that the president often does not do this.”
These remarks emphasize that the president must lead negotiations to resolve a shutdown. While the sentence “A shutdown means the President is weak” is not directly recorded, Trump clearly expressed that viewpoint.
FACT – the reason why Americans have to worry about a government shutdown is because Obama refuses to pass a budget.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 9, 2013
The Republican leader had also used the word "weak" before when referring to Obama and his leadership. The paraphrase fairly reflected his 2013 stance and other comments he made that year.
