Trump Officials Secretly Worried Democrats Have a Point on Shutdown

The Trump administration’s projected strength during the government shutdown is belied by a nagging insecurity, reports The Wall Street Journal: that the Democratic health care concerns that set off the affair are well founded.

The government shut down this week after the GOP refused several Democratic demands, chief among them extending Affordable Care Act premium subsidies currently on track to expire at the end of 2025. Without the subsidies, millions of Americans, many in red-leaning states, would see their health care premiums more than double—initiating a political nightmare for a party hoping to cling onto its weak majority in the House in 2026.

The White House is keenly aware of this. Citing administration officials, the Journalreports that Trump’s advisers are concerned the GOP “will take the blame for allowing healthcare subsidies to expire,” and have “privately acknowledged” that the issue could cause Trump “political headaches.”

White House officials are thus considering proposals to extend the subsidies, according to the Journal, but the president remains undecided on supporting such a plan.

Republican strategists have long warned that the expiration of the subsidies would be a political disaster, with Trump pollster Tony Fabrizio issuing a memo in July that stated: “By broad bipartisan margins, voters want to see the tax credits extended rather than expire at the end of the year, whether in the context of premiums doubling or 5 million families losing their health insurance,” and “this includes solid majorities of Trump voters and swing voters.”

Nonetheless, Trump and his team are reportedly intent on standing strong and refusing to “cave to Democrats’ demands and negotiate while the government is shut down.” The White House, the Journalreports, still believes it has “the upper hand” in the ongoing shutdown.

But beyond the looming health care issue, early polling indicates that—despite the Trump administration’s sombrero memes and legally dubious use of federal agencies’ websites to villanize “radical left” Democrats—Americans blame Republicans more than Democrats for the shutdown.