Trump hopes 'enough people will use their heads' to quickly end partial government shutdown
I just spoke with President Trump about Iran, ICE masks / DHS Sec Kristi Noem, and government funding.
— Jacqui Heinrich (@JacquiHeinrich) January 31, 2026
On Iran and my reporting from yesterday that Gulf Allies are in the dark about the US plans for intervention, President Trump tells me,
POTUS: “Well, we can’t tell them the…
WASHINGTON, DC: Donald Trump said he is counting on “enough people will use their heads” to help end the partial government shutdown. On Saturday, January 31, Henrich shared a post on X (formerly Twitter) outlining the questions posed to Trump and his responses.
“I think it’s going fine,” Trump said when asked about government funding. The shutdown began after the Senate failed to pass a funding package. Democratic objections to a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) bill blocked its approval.
Several government agencies, including the Departments of Defense, State, Treasury, and Homeland Security, ran out of money at 12:01 am on Saturday, January 31, causing a temporary shutdown.
Trump blames Democrats as shutdown drags on
When speaking with Fox News’ Jacqui Heinrich about the partial government shutdown, Donald Trump said he feels the situation is going “fine.” He pointed to strong economic growth earlier, saying, “We had a big GDP…I lost a point and a half because of the last (shutdown).”
He added, “So we’ll see what happens. I think the Democrats don’t want it to happen. Makes them look very bad, but it’s not a good thing for the country. So hopefully enough people will use their heads.”
Asked about Democrats’ demand that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents remove their masks to agree on Department of Homeland Security funding, Trump avoided a direct answer. He told Heinrich, “You know where my attitude is,” and shifted to a broader point about crime in the United States.
Trump said, “I don't want to comment on that yet, because it's not time to. But I’ll have a comment. You saw my statement on Kristi yesterday. You know where know where my attitude is.”
“We're at a low point in history in crime. Since 1900, recorded history started in 1900, can you imagine? It's 125 years ago. We have the lowest crime, lowest number of murders, the lowest everything, because we're taking criminals out of our country. And Tom's doing great.”
Why is the government in a temporary shutdown?
The government is in a temporary shutdown because lawmakers failed to agree on funding before the deadline, with the main dispute centered on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) budget.
Senate Democrats, led by Chuck Schumer, refused to support the spending bill unless changes were made to DHS funding. Their demand followed the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good by a federal agent in Minneapolis. Democrats are calling for stricter rules for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol after the shootings.
The proposed $1.2 trillion funding package included $10 billion for ICE. Democrats blocked that portion of the bill, arguing the agency needs stricter oversight.
A last-minute deal removed DHS funding from the main bill, giving lawmakers two more weeks to resolve the issue. Because the House is not back until Monday, some government agencies ran out of money, triggering the temporary shutdown.
