Trump warns that government shutdown will raise taxes

President Trump said Thursday that a government shutdown could cause “very, very high taxes” and said it would be the Democrats’ fault.

Speaking in the Oval Office alongside NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, Mr. Trump said if the government shuts down, it will also derail the GOP-run Congress’ work to extend his 2017 tax cuts that will expire this year, sending tax rates higher.

“Democrats are stopping all of these good things that we’re providing. We’re providing the greatest package of benefits that this country has ever provided,” he said. “The biggest part of that’s going to be tax cuts for the middle class and for businesses, small businesses — employers, people that hire people, jobs.”

He said Senate Democrats, who have threatened to filibuster the House-passed spending bill, would be fully responsible for the shutdown and its aftermath.

The president said that Democrats have “bad politics, but one thing, they stick together.”

He said the Republicans stick together “mostly” but have a few “grandstanders.”

The House on Tuesday passed a spending patch that would finance the government through September.

It’s now up to the Senate to get the bill to Mr. Trump’s desk before a shutdown deadline of midnight Friday. The bill needs the support of at least eight Democrats to survive a 60-vote filibuster test.

Mr. Trump added Thursday that he’s “hearing a lot of Democrats are going to vote” for the bill.

“This is an extension, but ultimately, we want to vote for one big, beautiful bill where we put the taxes in, we put everything in. We can have big tax cuts. We’re going to have tremendous incentives for companies coming into our country and employing lots of people,” he said.