‘These guys are kamikaze’: Trump lashes out at Democrats as US shutdown becomes longest in American history
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "‘These guys are kamikaze’: Trump lashes out at Democrats as US shutdown becomes longest in American history")
President Donald Trump gestures after delivering remarks during the America Business Forum at the Kaseya Center on November 05, 2025 in Miami, Florida. Photograph: (AFP)
The current closure, which is now in its sixth week, surpassed the 35-day record set during the Republican president’s first term in the White House.
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday (Nov 5) blasted the Democrats, likening them to the Japanese World War II pilots over the longest government shutdown in American history. Trump accused his foes of being prepared to destroy the country. The current closure, which is now in its sixth week, surpassed the 35-day record set during the Republican president’s first term in the White House.
Speaking at a meeting with Republican senators at the White House, Trump said, “As you know, we are in the midst of a disastrous Democrats-created government shutdown.”
“It’s Democrats-created, but I don’t think they are getting the blame they should. It is now the longest official shutdown in American history. The Democrat radicals, and the senators have shown zero interest in opening the government,” he added.
Comparing democrats with Japan’s World War II pilots, Trump further said, “I just got back from Japan... I talked about the kamikaze pilots. I think these guys are kamikaze. They’ll take down the country if they have to.”
The shutdown has resulted in about 1.4 million federal workers, including air traffic controllers, national park wardens, remaining on enforced leave or working without pay. Meanwhile, some courts have been forced to use emergency funds to keep running, but warned that operations may be affected soon.
The government shutdown stems from Congress’s failure to approve a new funding package before the September 30 deadline. This has caused several federal departments to halt operations, affecting millions of citizens.
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Shutdown impacts flight operations
The situation has also impacted flight operations in the US, leading to significant delays and cancellations of flights. US officials on Wednesday said that the scheduled capacity for flights was being cut by 10 per cent from Friday (Nov 7) in 40 busy air traffic locations due to staffing woes caused by the government shutdown.
“You’ll see mass cancellations, and you may see us close certain parts of the airspace, because we just cannot manage it because we don’t have the air traffic controllers,” US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned.
