President Donald Trump told Maria Bartiromo in a preview of Sunday Morning Futures that Democrats made a colossal blunder with the ongoing Schumer Shutdown — one that could backfire in a big way. Their endless obstruction, he said, has handed Republicans a golden opportunity to finally drain some of the swamp and clear out layers of bloated, unaccountable bureaucracy in Washington.
“I think they could just stay out forever, I mean, to be honest with you. Now, what we’re doing is we’re cutting Democrat programs that we didn’t want because… I mean, they made one mistake. They didn’t realize that that gives me the right to cut programs that Republicans never wanted. You know, giveaways, welfare programs, et cetera. And we’re doing that, and we’re cutting them permanently,” Trump said in the interview, which will air on Sunday.
Bariromo pivoted, asking the president about the “No Kings” rally, set to take place this weekend. She asked, “Do you think that the government shutdown is all about this rally that’s happening this weekend, the ‘No Kings’ rally?”
“I mean, some people say they want to delay it for that. This is not a king, you know, they’re saying, they’re referring to me as a king. I’m not a king,” Trump said in response.
“No, but just so that Chuck Schumer could go and say, ‘I’m fighting Trump,'” Bartiromo replied.
“Well, Chuck is, you know, at the end of the line. He’s being beaten by everybody that they poll against him. And you know what he did is he did the right thing a couple of years ago on something like this. And he got hurt by his party,” Trump said.
“And it doesn’t … I don’t think it matters to him. I think he’s just so dead that he’ll do anything,” Trump said. “We’re cutting a $20 billion project that Schumer fought for 15 years to get, and I’m cutting the project. The project is gonna be dead. It’s just pretty much dead right now.”
WATCH:
This weekend on @sundayfutures at 10am eastern on @FoxNews , @MariaBartiromo speaks exclusively with President Trump @POTUS @realDonaldTrump.
In a preview this morning on @MorningsMaria on @FoxBusiness , President Trump discussed the continuing government shutdown. pic.twitter.com/dSPpM1xjIB
— SundayMorningFutures (@SundayFutures) October 17, 2025
However, right on cue, a federal judge in San Francisco stepped in to shield the bureaucracy. U.S. District Judge Susan Illston, a Clinton appointee, temporarily blocked the Trump administration from proceeding with the mass layoffs of more than 4,000 federal employees — calling the move “likely illegal” and “politically motivated.”
In her ruling, Illston bemoaned what she described as a “human cost that cannot be tolerated,” freezing all layoffs for at least two weeks. In other words, the swamp just got a stay of execution — courtesy of yet another activist judge protecting the permanent D.C. class from accountability.
