Here are the president's full comments about the 2025 government shutdown and his views on healthcare reform, during an interview Sunday with CBS's "60 Minutes."
NORAH O'DONNELL, CBS NEWS: Mr. President, we've talked about foreign policy, now let's focus on issues here at home. We are now approaching the longest shutdown in American history.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: (Democrats' fault.)
NORAH O'DONNELL: Under your presidency, we're talking about more than a million federal workers who are not getting a paycheck, including our air traffic controllers. You see there's traffic snarls out at the airports now. This weekend food aid for more than 42 million Americans is set to expire. What are you doing as president to end the shutdown?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, what we're doing is we keep voting. I mean, the Republicans are voting almost unanimously to end it, and the Democrats keep voting against ending it. You know, they've never had this. This has happened like 18 times before. The Democrats always voted for an extension, always saying, "Give us an extension, we'll work it out."
They don't wanna give us an extension because they used to think it was good for him, but the polls are turning around. I just saw a poll where they're down 20-25%. What's happening is that the people understand they're losing so much, they call it "Trump derangement syndrome." They are losing so much that they don't know what to do. They've lost their way. They've become crazed lunatics. And all they have to do, Norah, is say, "Let's vote." And you can open the-- the economy could open up during our interview--
NORAH O'DONNELL: Is there something you can do to bring this to an end?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: All I can do is give the facts. Here's what I can't do. I can't give them $1.5 trillion so that they can give welfare to people that came into our country illegally. So that prisoners, and that people from mental institutions, and people that are drug dealers get vast amounts of money for healthcare. That I can't do--
What I can do is I can continue to run a great country. We have the best economy we've ever had. I can continue to do that. What they should do-- look, this started a long time ago. I always said-- and you know I've been very consistent-- Obamacare is terrible.
It's bad healthcare at far too high a price. We should fix that. We should fix it. And we can fix it with the Democrats. All they have to do is let the country open and we'll fix it. But, you know, people are gonna get an 18-19% increase in Obamacare. It was a faulty program, it should've never been approved. But it was approved. If we fix it it'll be-- one of the greatest achievements.
But they have to let the country open, and I'll sit down with the Democrats, and we'll fix it. But they have to let the country-- and you know what they have to do--
All they have to do is raise five hands. We don't need all of ''em.
NORAH O'DONNELL: But so you're saying your plan is to tell the Democrats to vote the-- to end the shutdown.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Correct, very simple.
NORAH O'DONNELL: And that you will put forward a healthcare plan?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: No. We will work on fixing the bad healthcare that we have. Right now, we have terrible healthcare and too expensive for the people, not for the government, for the people.
NORAH O'DONNELL: But Mr. President, with all due respect you've been talking about fixing the healthcare insurance plan since 2015--
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Sure. And you can't do it because of the Democrats. That's right.
NORAH O'DONNELL: Since 2015, you said you'd fix it.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I've been talking about it for a long time. We almost did it. We were one vote short. We woulda had great healthcare. We were one vote short. And coupla Senators that we currently have made the mistake, and they-- they made a big mistake. John McCain made a mistake, frankly.
We were one vote short. We woulda had great healthcare. And I've been saying ever since, "We can fix it. It's too expen--" it's got two things. It's too expensive, and it's lousy healthcare. It's too expensive for the people. They're gonna get a very big increase this year. And it's because--
NORAH O'DONNELL: Well, they're gonna get an increase if they don't-- if you don't extend the subsidies.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: No, no. But the subsidies is part of it. We're supposed to spend trillions of dollars to take care of something that-- that is defective. What I'm saying is, we can make it much less expensive for people and give them much better healthcare. And I'd be willing to work with the Democrats--
NORAH O'DONNELL: But where is that plan?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: --on it. The problem is, they want to give money to prisoners, to drug dealers, to all these millions of people that were allowed to come in with an open border from Biden. And nobody can do that. Not one Republican would ever do that.
NORAH O'DONNELL: Can I just button that up? Because the extension of these Obamacare subsidies, if they are not extended is that's what the Democrats are pushing for. I know you understand that. Tens of millions of Americans will see their monthly payments double.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: No, no. It's going to double anyway--
NORAH O'DONNELL: My understanding is, if those healthcare subsidies are not expan-- extended, premiums will double for many of the people that are on it. And I was looking into it. Three quarters of these people that will see their healthcare premiums double live in states where you won in the last election. I mean, even here in Florida has the highest number of residents on Obamacare in the country. If those--
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: And I'm saying we can fix it, Norah.
NORAH O'DONNELL: But if the subsidies are not extended, they're not gonna be able to afford health insurance--
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Look. It was a defective plan put into line by Barack Hussein Obama, who was a lousy president, not nearly as bad as Biden, by the way, who by the way is building a museum that's, like, four times over budget. It'll never open, built in a neighborhood that-- you know, it's just not gonna work. The neighborhood doesn't even want 'em.
NORAH O'DONNELL: Okay.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: And it's a disaster. The same guy that did his museum, which is a total catastrophe, came up with a bad healthcare plan. And for the sake of one vote, we would have had, you know, it's so sad thinking back--
NORAH O'DONNELL: But how-- I guess the question is-- I hear you.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: If we had the vote, that one vote, we would have great healthcare at a much lower cost, and that's what I want. But I don't want to give $1.5 trillion to prisoners and drug dealers and-- and the people that-- that came into our country from mental institutions. What they allowed to come into our country, and we're getting 'em out, but what they allowed to come into our country, Norah, is horrible. So, ready? We can make it good.
NORAH O'DONNELL: I don't want to get into a back-- too much of a back and forth on this--
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: No, but here's all I have to do. Open up the country. Open up the country.
NORAH O'DONNELL: You mean, end the shutdown--
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We only need five of the-- of their votes. We only need five votes, and already a couple of Democrats, a few Democrats are already voting. They want to open up. And we'll fix all of those problems. Those problems are much easier than what I just did with solving all these wars.
We had-- wait a minute, we had nine wars on our planet. I solved eight of 'em. I have one to go, Russia-Ukraine. I thought that was gonna be one of the easier ones but it's not because Putin is tougher than people thought--
NORAH O'DONNELL: You have helped these government shutdowns in the past when it came about--
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I did. I'm very good at it, but I'm not gonna do it by extortion.
NORAH O'DONNELL: You brought members of Congress to the White House.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I'm not gonna do it by being extorted by the Democrats who have lost their way. There's something wrong with these people.
NORAH O'DONNELL: So then what happens on November 15th when the troops don't get a paycheck?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Schumer is a basket case. He's gonna be defeated in the next election by a vast number of people. And he has nothing to lose. He's become-- I just left Japan --he's become a kamikaze pilot.
NORAH O'DONNELL: It sounds like this is not gonna get solved--
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: This guy is a kamikaze. He would rather see the country fail than have Trump and the Republicans do well. But the people don't want that--
NORAH O'DONNELL: I know, I hear you. It sounds like--
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: So we have a record-setting country right now, and we're not gonna be extorted by a man who's grossly incompetent, who is gonna be defeated by any one of five different candidates. We're not gonna let that happen--
NORAH O'DONNELL: It sounds like this is not gonna get solved, the shutdown.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: It's gonna get solved, yeah. Oh, it's gonna get solved.
NORAH O'DONNELL: How?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Eventually, they're gonna have to vote.
NORAH O'DONNELL: You're saying the Democrats will capitulate?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I think they have to. I mean, look, I use the word kamikaze, not freely. I don't like to have to use that word. They are kamikazes, but there are gonna be four or five Democrats that come. We need five. They're gonna come and vote.
And if they don't vote, that's their problem. Now, I happen to agree to something else. I think we should do the nuclear option. This is a totally different nuclear, by the way. It's called ending the filibuster.
NORAH O'DONNELL: Did you see John Thune said today they're not gonna do that--
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I know John doesn't-- well, John and a few others. But, you know what? The Republicans have to get tougher. If we end the filibuster, we can do exactly what we want. We're not gonna lose power. The theory is, oh, then we'll do it, but then when they get into power someday they'll do it. That's true. But you know what?
NORAH O'DONNELL: So you think John--
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We're here right now. No, I like John Thune. I think he's terrific, but I disagree with him on this point. I don't even know-- actually, I don't even know his attitude on the filibuster, but I think we should do it--
NORAH O'DONNELL: He said today he wasn't gonna do it.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, that's too bad. You know, I mean, I think we're much better off. 'Cause here's the problem. The Democrats will do it in the first week in office. The Democrats, and I told that to John. The de-- and I get along with him great. We've had a great relationship--
And I also know there are other Republicans that feel the other way. And I understand that too, but they're wrong. The Democrats will do it. If they get into power and someday I guess they will. Who knows? It's hard to believe when they have men in women's sports, open borders, open everything, a transgender for everyone. The Democrats will do it in their first day in office, and the only reason they didn't do it is because of Sinema and because of a man named Joe Manchin from West Virginia--
NORAH O'DONNELL: Senator Kyrsten Sinema--.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: --good man. And they disagreed with it. Now wait. Had they approved it, I think just one of 'em, had they been able to get those votes, you would have had the nuclear option used. You would have had the filibuster ended, and the Democrats would have used it.
So I say to the Republicans that want to be, you know, all like, "Oh, well, we're above all that," the Democrats will do it. See, the Republicans have much better policy. We have smart policy. We have great policy. That's how we win.
The Democrats are vicious. They're vicious. They have horrible policy, but they are the most vicious human beings on Earth. They are people that weaponize government. They do a lotta bad things.
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