trump news today , Haberman on the question that Trump’s criticism of spending

President-elect Donald Trump delivered a letter to Capitol Hill on Wednesday that starkly ratcheted up the chances of a shutdown just before Christmas, sending the strongest signal yet that he is looking for a very high-stakes showdown with Democrats over spending.

Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance sharply criticized on Wednesday a deal to fund the federal government until March 14 negotiated by Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson. The criticism undermined support for the plan across Capitol Hill just days away from a shutdown deadline.

Trump and Vance panned the bill, saying it contained what they characterized as Democratic priorities but also thrust into the mix the politically incendiary issue of the U.S. debt limit, which the country is poised to hit after it resumes in the new year.

Republicans want to support our farmers, pay for disaster relief, and set our country up for success in 2025," Trump and Vance said in a statement. "The only way to do that is with a temporary funding bill WITHOUT DEMOCRAT GIVEAWAYS combined with an increase in the debt ceiling. Anything else is a betrayal of our country."

Within hours, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said the funding plan had officially been axed.

READ MORE: Trump and Vance slam Johnson-negotiated government

Scalise said he hadn't spoken directly with Trump as of Wednesday night. However, he said a new agreement hadn't been worked out and that Republicans are discussing how to tie in a debt limit increase for government funding, in reaction to the president-elect's last-minute demand.

Leaving the Capitol later Wednesday, the Louisiana Republican said they are "going to continue to work through the night, through the morning to get an agreement we can bring to the floor," adding, "We're not there yet."

"We're going to get it resolved – hopefully tomorrow, we've got to see," Scalise said.

Sources from CNN said that, through most of Wednesday, Trump privately trashed the spending deal in conversations. That opposition set off a scramble among GOP lawmakers, and Republicans on Capitol Hill described Trump's opposition as the final death knell for Johnson's spending deal. It also raised questions about whether the Louisiana Republican would have Trump's support for his speaker race just over two weeks away.

Johnson presented the text of his government funding plan on Tuesday night but was widely attacked by the right wing of his party for being too soft on the Democratic priorities. He would have to depend on the support of the Democrats to see its passage in both chambers of Congress.

Then came the eleventh-hour statement by Trump and Vance, calling on Republicans to get hardline on spending. They called for Republicans to attach demands to the debt limit debate to the bill that will keep the government open.

"Republicans must GET SMART and TOUGH. If Democrats threaten to shut down the government unless we give them everything they want, then CALL THEIR BLUFF," Trump and Vance wrote in the statement.

"Let's have this debate now," they wrote on the debt limit. "And we should pass a streamlined spending bill that doesn't give Chuck Schumer and the Democrats everything they want."

The last-minute grenade into the spending fight — after a bipartisan deal had already been reached — dramatically increases the risks of a shutdown on Capitol Hill. Top Democrats quickly signaled that they'd be unwilling to go along with Trump's new calls for a "streamlined" spending deal that rips out billions of dollars in policies that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries had already negotiated with Johnson.

The Republicans in the House have been instructed to close down the government. And harm working-class Americans whom they claim they work for, Jeffries said as he put a clear stamp that his party would not help bailout the votes for a bill sponsored by the GOP that routed his agreement with Johnson: You break the bipartisan accord, you own the aftershocks

House Democrats will caucus tomorrow morning, a senior Democratic aide said. Senators Democrats also need to approve a bill before funding dries up Saturday pledged Wednesday night to stay with the compromise they agreed on, after meeting behind closed doors in the chamber saying there's consensus and it's time to vote.

Out of his office on Capitol Hill less than an hour after he issued a joint statement with Trump, Vance said they support a clean continuing resolution CR-only if it's tied to a debt limit increase.

"What the president believes is that we should support a clean CR so long as it contains a debt limit increase," Vance said in response to a question from CNN. "That's the position of the president and that's what we're going to try to push for."

Later Wednesday night, the vice president-elect told reporters as he was leaving Johnson's office that they had "a productive conversation" but said Republicans are still "in the middle" of negotiations.

"But I think we will be able to solve some problems here, and we will keep working on it," Vance said.

trump news polls 

During his first news conference since he won his presidential election six weeks ago, President-elect Donald Trump spoke of the war in Ukraine, mysterious drones flying over New Jersey, the future of TikTok, and lawsuits aimed at the media he often loves to hate.

Trump gave a sort of economic news announcement while answering questions Monday afternoon as he sat for more than an hour in a lavish room at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, displaying the verbiage and bombast of his 2017-2021 White House years.

He bantered with reporters, a departure from the dark rhetoric and anger he often flashed on the campaign trail. He fielded questions about Ukraine and Israel but refused to say whether he had spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin or whether he would support military strikes on Iran.

He seemed wiser to Washington's ways and pleased, albeit a little perplexed, at his own new place in it, marveling at the steady procession of foreign leaders wanting to congratulate him and corporate CEOs rushing to meet him.

"The first term, everybody was fighting me," he said. "In this term, everybody wants to be my friend. I don't know if my personality changed or something."

Since his Nov 5 win, Trump hasn't held one of his signature rallies or spoken at length with reporters; he's only communicated through social media posts and the occasional speech.

Monday brought some good economic news. Alongside SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son, Trump said the Japanese technology company will invest $100 billion in the US over the next four years.

trump news polls swing states

There are several combinations of states that could put either Vice President Kamala Harris or former President Donald J. Trump over the 270 electoral votes needed to win.

If each candidate wins all of their states in the solid, likely, and lean categories, it will all come down to these seven tossup states in yellow. Ms. Harris would need 44 electoral votes from the tossup states to win. Mr. Trump would need 51.

Six of the seven states rated as tossups were won narrowly by Joseph R. Biden Jr. in 2020. Of course, some of the states currently rated as leaning or likely Democratic or Republican could also come into play.

READ MORE: 'Times' reporter Haberman weighs in on Trump, the media