President Donald Trump is projecting political confidence as lawmakers on Capitol Hill battle over a government funding extension, mocking Democratic leadership online, including at times, with artificially generated videos.

Trump has been relatively even-keeled in person, but on social media, he has expressed apparent amusement as he and congressional Republicans pressure Democrats over the shutdown.

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The White House press briefing room has been playing a video on loop of Senate Democrats’ past opposition to shutdowns, only pausing it briefly on Wednesday so Vice President JD Vance and press secretary Karoline Leavitt could address the news media. 

“I think it’s funny,” Vance told reporters on Wednesday of Trump’s social media posts. “The president’s joking, and we’re having a good time. You can negotiate in good faith, while also poking a little bit of fun at some of the absurdities of the Democrats’ positions and even, you know, poking some fun at the absurdity of the Democrats themselves.” 

The vice president added this to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), who Trump has posted an AI video of wearing a sombrero and with a mustache: “If you help us reopen the government, the sombrero memes will stop. And I’ve talked to the president of the United States about that.”

Republican strategist John Feehery, who worked in Congress during the two shutdowns under former President Bill Clinton and then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich, laughed when the Washington Examiner asked him about Trump’s social media posts.

“He’s mocking them, and he should mock them: They have a ridiculous position,” Feehery said. “Trump’s doing exactly the right thing. He’s not taking their offer seriously because it’s not a serious offer.”

Feehery defended Trump’s sombrero meme featuring Jeffries, saying the president “always goes too far” but contending “that’s part of his charm.” 

“It was totally over the line and totally hilarious,” he said. “It’s another way to exemplify how stupid the Democrats are. Their negotiating position is extremely weak, and Hakeem Jeffries should not even be in the room because he’s not provided any votes. He’s irrelevant to the process. So the fact that Trump is making a special fun of him is actually quite hilarious.”

Republican strategist Alex Conant agreed that Trump is projecting confidence because he is conveying to Democrats, saying, “he will never cave on this.” 

“As the shutdown drags on, the Democratic leaders are going to start losing members of their conferences,” Conant told the Washington Examiner. “There is no end game where the Democrats force Trump to capitulate – and he’s communicating that however he can.”

On Tuesday night, hours before the shutdown, Trump’s second after the record-setting 35-day shutdown in 2018 over border funding, the president posted multiple photos of his meeting Monday with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Jeffries in the Oval Office, including with “Trump 2028” hats on the Resolute Desk.

Trump’s post came after reports the president offered Schumer and Jeffries a hat apiece, but the pair declined. Jeffries has disputed the report that he and Schumer were offered a hat, but did confirm he asked Vance, a potential 2028 Republican presidential primary candidate, for his reaction to them.

The night before, Trump posted an artificial intelligence-generated video of Schumer and Jeffries after the meeting outside the West Wing, with a sombrero and mustache superimposed on Jeffries as an AI voice mimicking Schumer says, “Nobody likes Democrats anymore,” “even black people,” and Latinos. 

“If we give all these illegals free healthcare, we might be able to get us on our side so that they vote for us,” the AI voiceover says.

Jeffries condemned the video as “racist,” telling Trump, “The next time you have something to say to me, don’t cop out through a racist and fake AI video.” 

“When I’m back in the Oval Office, say it to my face,” he said Tuesday during a press conference outside the Capitol.

Regardless of the memes, the shutdown’s repercussions could be severe, depending on its length. It will at least last until Friday as lawmakers are commemorating Yom Kippur.

For example, Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought announced on Wednesday that approximately $18 billion in New York and New Jersey infrastructure projects, including the Hudson Tunnel Project and the Second Ave Subway, have been “put on hold” to “ensure funding is not flowing based on unconstitutional [diversity, equity, and inequality] principles.” 

Vought’s announcement followed his directing of federal departments and agencies to prepare to reduce their respective workforces if there were a shutdown. The Congressional Budget Office predicted on Wednesday that up to 750,000 employees could be furloughed, irrespective of any firings.

For Feehery, the strategist, Vought’s twin announcements were intended to increase pressure on the two New York Democratic congressional leaders. Schumer is already under pressure after his decision in March to support a government funding bill to avoid a shutdown amid speculation Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) could primary him in 2028.

“Getting rid of a lot of these federal workers is Trump’s dream since most of these federal workers voted for somebody else. They voted for [former President Joe] Biden,” Feehery said. “The Democrats are slitting their own throat. Actually, they’re slitting the throats of their supporters.”

However, the announcements have not discouraged Schumer or Jeffries, despite three members of the Senate Democratic conference voting again on Wednesday for the House-passed continuing resolution, which would fund the government at previously appropriated spending levels until Nov. 21. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) has been the only Republican to vote against the measure.

Schumer and Jeffries remain adamant that they will not endorse reopening the government without, in part, funding for COVID-19 pandemic-era Obamacare healthcare insurance premium tax credits, which are set to expire on Dec. 31. 

Republicans have countered that Democrats are also trying to fund healthcare for illegal immigrants because they are hoping to rescind provisions of the One Big Beautiful Bill, introducing more restrictions on access to public services. Democrats have replied that this is prevented by federal law, though some states permit it, including through Medicaid.

“Americans are saying the No. 1 issue is costs,” Schumer said Wednesday on the Senate floor. “They now rate Donald Trump worse on costs than they rated Joe Biden, and he didn’t have very good ratings.”

“The Trump administration has been killing jobs,” Jeffries added during a separate earlier press conference. “This is a job-killing administration. Job creation is down, but you know what’s up? Cost. The promise to lower costs on Day One. Costs aren’t going down, costs are going up.”

TRUMP HIGHLIGHTS HEALTHCARE PLAN AMID DEMOCRATS’ SHUTDOWN NARRATIVE

However, Feehery, the strategist, repeated advice he told Republicans during the most recent shutdowns in 2013 and 2018, the 2013 iteration being over Obamacare.

“You really can’t use the government debt ceilings or government shutdowns to pass things you couldn’t pass otherwise. There’s no way that you’re going to be able to get a majority opposed to your ideas to just kind of buckle in and pass those agenda items. There was no way that Obama was going to repeal Obamacare, and so to demand that and the government shutdown makes no sense,” he said. “Democrats don’t have any power.”