This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
The anti-Christian Communist regime in China long has been known for hating Christians and trying to obliterate either their beliefs, or them.
It previously has bulldozed Christian churches, forced faith organizations to promote the leftist ideologies of communism, censored and restricted Bibles, and much more. Arrests of Christians, especially leaders, are common.
Now its latest crackdown has cost Pastor Ezra Jin his freedom.
He's founder of Zion Church and was jailed recently, along with "dozens of church leaders and members," according to a report from the American Center for Law and Justice.
Zion Church is described as a large "underground house church," meaning it is not "authorized" by the government and therefore does not preach only messages that the communist regime approves.
He has congregations across China with thousands of members.
This is Pastor Ezra Jin.
Now detained by the Chinese Communist Party for crimes against the state.
The crime is organizing Christian religious movements in various cities.
Pray for him. pic.twitter.com/MNF6szpepa
— John Webber (@TheWebberBrief) October 12, 2025
On Friday evening, my father-in-law Pastor Ezra Jin was arrested by Chinese government officials, along with more than 20 other pastors and church workers across 7 cities in the most extensive attack on a Chinese church in 4 decades. I have been quiet here mostly because helping… https://t.co/05Vbe3ayGG pic.twitter.com/4M3l5SGR1J
— Bill Drexel (@bill_drexel) October 12, 2025
Dozens of pastors from one of the largest underground churches in China have been detained. It is reportedly the biggest crackdown on Christians by the communist regime since 2018.
Chinese police have detained Pastor Ezra Jin Mingri, the founder of Zion Church, at his home in… pic.twitter.com/1doHJm1hNJ
— CBN News (@CBNNews) October 14, 2025
Jin, a pastor and father of children with U.S. citizenship, was arrested at his home in Beihai, Guangxi, just days ago, the report said. His daughter, Grace Jin Drexel, said the events have been "very scary" for the family.
The report explained more than 30 other pastors and church staff members also "simply vanished."
A church statement said, "They broke into homes, handcuffed even the elderly, and took them away. One pastor's mother had a heart attack during the arrest. Another woman was dragged from her newborn baby."
Subsequent charges claimed "illegal dissemination of religious information via the internet."
The report said police used violence to take people into custody.
"These attacks are a stark reminder of the severe persecution Christians face in China simply for worshiping according to their faith. Though China's constitution promises religious freedom, the Chinese Communist Party, an officially atheist regime, restricts worship to government-controlled, state-approved organizations," the ACLJ explained.
The hate campaign caught the attention of U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who insisted that China allow all believers, including those in house churches, to worship without fear of attacks.
According to UPI, Rubio said, "We call on the CCP to immediately release the detained church leaders and to allow all people of faith, including members of house churches, to engage in religious activities without fear of retribution."
Church official Sean Long said, "We strongly appeal to the global church society to hold the Chinese government accountable. They cannot do whatever they want without letting people know. Let our ministers and staff members be released as soon as possible. Stop arresting our members."
Long, in an interview said, "We are not criminals but Christians. We are not anti-CCP, we are not anti-China. We love our people, love our society, love our culture. We are not a western political force. That is 100% wrong. We are a Chinese house church adhering to historic Christian faith. We are believers of Jesus. We have nothing to do with the U.S.-China tension or competition."
The organization has an estimated 10,000 participants in 40 cities.
The communists attacked the same church several years ago, when it declined to install security cameras that government officials could use in its structures.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, the chief of the House Judiciary Committee, is demanding testimony from ex-special counsel Jack Smith.
Smith needs to respond to questions about how his team "sought to silence President Trump by restricting his public statements about the case."
How Smith orchestrated an "unnecessary and abusive raid of his residence."
How Smith "attempted to improperly pressure defense counsel with the promise of political patronage."
And how Smith "manipulated key evidence."
That's according to letter from Jordan to Smith, in which he requires Smith's testimony "after several members of his special counsel team failed to fully cooperate with the committee's investigation of the Biden-Harris Justice Department's weaponization of the rule of law."
Smith, although his cases against Trump failed, did succeed in his plan to undermine "the integrity of the criminal justice system," Jordan said.
Jordan wrote, "To date, the committee has conducted transcribed interviews and depositions of several individuals detailed to your office, including Jay Bratt, J.P. Cooney, and Thomas Windom. In addition, the committee has obtained internal Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) documents that show the FBI, with the likely involvement of prosecutors that were later assigned to your team, surveilled Representative Scott Perry prior to seizing his cell phone in a stunning breach of constitutional separation of powers. Your abusive surveillance of sitting Members of Congress did not stop there. Earlier this week, the FBI, at the direction of Director Kash Patel, released an alarming document showing that your team requested and obtained private phone records for at least eight Senators and one Representative during an investigation known as 'Arctic Frost.' These documents reinforce the conclusion that your office conducted politically motivated investigations."
He explained, "Although the Committee has learned new information from these interviews, several members of your Special Counsel team failed to fully cooperate with the Committee's inquiry. For example, during a transcribed interview with the Committee, former Senior Assistant Special Counsel Thomas Windom relied on an overbroad and unreasonable interpretation of grand jury secrecy protections to refuse to answer the Committee's questions on important topics. After the Committee subpoenaed Windom to compel his testimony, he invoked various ill-defined privileges and objections, including the Fifth Amendment, to refuse to answer approximately 70 questions. According to Windom's counsel, 'the foundation of [Windom's] decision to decline to answer is his constitutional right to silence embodied in the Fifth Amendment.' For instance, Windom refused to answer 'how many other members of Congress were investigated as part of the Arctic Frost investigation and Jack Smith investigation' and if there are records of additional 'Members of Congress that were swept up by a legal process' pursuant to this investigation."
The member of Congress explained, "As the special counsel, Smith was ultimately responsible for the prosecutorial misconduct and constitutional abuses of his office."
Jordan noted another problem was Jay Bratt, who advised Smith, who "invoked the Fifth Amendment approximately 75 times during his interview with the Committee. He refused to answer key questions necessary for the Committee's oversight, including whether the purpose of the classified documents investigation was to affect the outcome of the 2024 presidential election, whether the raid on Mar-a-Lago was intended to capture political intelligence, who he met with during his three visits to the Biden-Harris White House, and why he pressured defense counsel using the promise of political patronage."
Jordan now wants from Smith details about his appointment, details about Smith's interactions and meetings with the Biden-Harris administration, and details about all of the investigations, decisions, and "tactics."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
The top leaders of the Jewish nation of Israel have been caught on video, in fact, multiple videos, actually cheering for President Donald Trump, who has been described by Democrats and other leftists as a "Hitler."
The cheers followed Monday the release of the last of the hostages taken and held by the terrorists of Hamas in their act of war against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
It was a plan assembled by Trump and his advisers, now being put into place, that at least for now halted the Israeli army's advance into Gaza against Hamas, and providwed the release of the last of the living hostages.
They had been taken by terrorists on that 2023 day when invaders also slaughtered about 1,200 Israeli citizens.
A headline at Not the Bee captured the sentiment, saying, "Man compared frequently to Hitler gets standing ovation from Israeli parliament for peace deal."
And it follows a years-long campaign by Democrats and others in the far left to deride Trump as a "Hitler."
They've often used that most-vile of epithets to complain that he's totalitarian, that he's dictatorial, that he's, in short, "Hitler."
In recent months they've expanded that to calling his supporters "Nazis."
One incident happened just weeks ago.
Trump was at a Washington, D.C., restaurant as pro-Palestine protesters from Code Pink called him "Hitler."
"Stepping out into the nation's capital since his crackdown on crime, Trump, along with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, dined at Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab. While walking through the restaurant, a video obtained by CNN and posted on X by the outlet's White House reporter Samantha Waldenberg shows Vance approaching a table to greet customers.
"Enjoy your dinner," Vance said as protesters were heard in the background.
Trump was then seen walking straight toward the protesters as they yelled, "Free D.C., Free Palestine. Trump is the Hitler of our time!"
Those wild shouts now have been contrasted by the enthusiasm for Trump and his work that was revealed through the cheers of the Knesset, Israeli's lawmaking body, when Trump appeared after the release of the Israeli hostages.
Leftists even have accused conservatives and Republicans over and over of, when they raise their hands in any fashion, including to wave to the crowd, using the Nazi salute.
WND has reported calling someone "Hitler" means that they are the worst.
And that's a key mantra used by Democrats against Trump.
A report in the New York Post explained, "White House staffers and campaign aides first started using the term after Trump dined with rapper Kanye West and notorious Holocaust skeptic and white nationalist Nick Fuentes at his Mar-a-Lago estate two days before Thanksgiving in 2022," Politico reported.
The report noted the response often follows what some consider outlandish comments from Trump.
"Hey, did you see what Hitler Pig said?" Biden aides will say in those situations, the report said.
"Why do Biden and other top Democrats continually compare Donald Trump to Hitler, and not only that, but also slander his supporters as Nazis and fascists?" asks author and WND Vice President and Managing Editor David Kupelian. "They do it because, if Trump really were another Hitler, and if Christian conservatives really were Nazis and fascists, then all the normal rules of society – all laws, all moral standards, all boundaries – would vanish, which is exactly how the radical Left likes things: No rules.
"Of course," he adds, "their premise is insane: Adolf Hitler murdered 11 million people, Donald Trump murdered zero. Yet in their minds, they're in a war against Hitler. In which case it becomes not only morally permissible – but a moral imperative – for them to daily lie, bribe, steal, censor, rig elections and much more, if doing so enables them to get rid of Hitler and save millions of innocent lives."
"Trump campaign adviser Chris LaCivita argued that the nickname is more of a reflection of the White House staffers that use it," the Post reported.
"[Politico] thinks this is funny it's actually more a representation of what a rag they've become and the level of s–t that works in the White House 'Hitler Pig,'" he wrote on X.
A report in Politico said, "that moniker," is "one that aides to and allies of the president – generally younger, more digitally native individuals, not senior staffers, one person clarified – frequently use to describe Trump."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Kamala Harris, the 2024 Democrat nominee for president who lost in a landslide to President Donald Trump, giving him victories in the Electoral College, the popular vote and every single swing state, long has been an extremist on LGBT ideologies.
She was part of the Joe Biden administration that insisted even on taxpayer funding for body mutilating surgeries on children.
But now she's out with a book about how she spent a billion dollars over a few weeks in her failed campaign, and a sharp-eyed reader has spotted a significant admission: Harris confirmed that Democrats knew of the problems with having boys who say they are girls playing on girls' athletic teams.
She said that clearly was "unfair."
The confession by Harris was spotted by Macy Petty, a former NCAA volleyball player and now legislative strategist for the Concerned Women for America Legislation Action Committee, who wrote about it at Fox News.
She noted, "In her recently released book about her presidential candidacy, former Vice President Kamala Harris admits that she, too, shares concerns: 'I agree with the concerns expressed by parents and players that we have to take into account biological factors such as muscle mass and unfair student athletic advantage when we determine who plays on which teams, especially in contact sports.'"
However, Harris continued, "There was no way I was going to go against my very nature and turn on transgender people."
Petty wrote, "And there it is. Tension unmasked. When reality collides with allegiance, the Democrats choose allegiance."
The fights over boys who say they are girls and demand access to girls' teams, girls' spaces, even girls' locker rooms and showers, have erupted across the nation.
Some states have determined that sex-specific locations will be occupied by only those of that sex, and they do not allow someone with a "gender ideology" or identity to overrule science, which in fact says that being male or female is embedded in to the human body down to the DNA level, so no one actually "changes" from male to female or vice versa.
Others oddly claim that males really are female.
Petty noted the fight endured by Riley Gaines, a swimmer who tied with a male in a competition, and was forced to watch as he was awarded the trophy.
"The moment sparked a nationwide campaign to try and convince everyday Americans that this feeling was not just instinct; it was internalized bigotry and evidence that there was noble, progressive work still to do. Only one problem. It was all a lie," the commentary explained.
Harris' comments now confirm "that not even the top Democratic leaders believed what they were selling."
Petty was in college when these war over males in female spaces erupted.
"The issue was linked to the Democrats' pro-LGBTQIA+ position, which they had insisted was the civil rights issue of our time, and now it was squarely at odds with something plainly unjust. But they were in too deep. At every turn, those who tried to find solutions to the problem of men in women's sports, including traditionally far-left organizations like Women's Liberation Front, found themselves up against the powerful political operatives of the Democratic Party. Though the ties between LGB and T were fading, the radical left insisted that to be pro-gay or pro-woman, you had to also stand for men in women's sports. Democrats obliged."
The column explained polling shows that issue played "an outsized role" in last year's election, and Democrats paid the price.
"Voters did not buy the lie that their concerns were merely internalized bigotry," she noted.
And Harris is not alone in speaking the quiet part out loud.
"California Gov. Gavin Newsom has publicly admitted that this is 'an issue of fairness – it's deeply unfair.' Yet, his state is one of the worst offenders of women's rights in this area," Petty wrote.
"As we hope this issue joins the parade of failed civil rights attacks of times gone by, voters and candidates alike should heed the warning. Never stand for a lie. Truth is our only sure foundation. Policy must be based on reality."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Colorado has a novel concept in its state constitution. TABOR, the Taxpayers Bill of Rights, dates back to when the state was both Republican and Democrat, unlike its current leadership that is all-Democrat.
The provision simply calls for a vote of the people before any taxes are raised.
Now lawmakers frequently have run end-arounds to their own constitution, insisting that the money they demand is a "fee," not a tax. But that defies reality in that they charge "fees" for Colorado residents to use roads and bridges, but refuse to charge that same "fee" to out-of-state drivers using the same roads and bridges.
If it walks and talks like a tax…
Leftists in the Democrat-majority legislature also repeatedly have used a state Supreme Court ruling that appeared to allow "de minimus" or "incidental" tax revenue changes without a vote.
Now the lawmakers were faced with a serious budget shortfall, which was aggravated by their decision to replace millions of dollars abortionists lost because of congressional action and millions that wealthy EV buyers would have lost because of federal changes, with money from state taxpayers' pockets, and turned to their agenda of scooping up all the money they can.
Too much, came the warning, even from the state Supreme Court, which is so far left members tried to remove Donald Trump from the 2024 presidential ballot before being scolded by the U.S. Supreme Court.
A report at Complete Colorado revealed the state court has put officials on notice about those tax hikes.
The warning came in a court ruling that struck down two tax increases in the city of Lakewood.
"In doing so, justices raised issues that cast doubt on 'hocus pocus' incantations relied upon by legislators during the special session," the report explained.
The court, through Justice Richard Gabriel, said, "[A] taxing district (including the state) cannot exempt itself from TABOR's restrictions and requirements simply by declaring that a legislative change has a purpose other than revenue generation."
"This should be a cold shower for lawmakers who think they can alter reality with a legislative declaration. Passing a bill that declares, 'up is down,' doesn't make it so," the report said.
Further, the court found, "it was obvious when each (Lakewood) Ordinance was enacted that it would have the effect of raising revenue," and added, "although revenue generation may not have been the only purpose … revenue generation was not merely incidental."
To bring that back to state lawmakers, in their special session in August, they "passed several bills to raise tax revenue and partially fill the growing chasm between federal tax policy and progressive Democrats' insatiable spending," the report said.
The state's Democrat majority demanded Colorado taxpayers increase their state tax liability by adding back a 20% deduction allowed under federal law for business income received from partnerships, sole proprietorships and certain corporations, the report said.
That bill is expected to increase tax revenue by $97 million in 2025-26, the report said.
Further, lawmakers decided to reduce a tax deduction for insurance companies that keep at least 2% of their employees based in Colorado, resulting in an estimated $90 million increase in tax revenue, the report said.
Their thinking was that nearly $200 million in tax increases was "incidental" and "de minimus."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, is pushing for punishment for officials in one nation, Nigeria, for allowing, perhaps even facilitating, the persecution of Christians.
"Officials in Nigeria are ignoring and even facilitating the mass murder of Christians by Islamist jihadists," he said on social media.
"Since 2009, over 50,000 Christians in Nigeria have been massacred, and over 18,000 churches and 2,000 Christian schools have been destroyed."
He warned the death and destruction "is the result of decisions made by specific people, in specific places, at specific times…"
He cited the 7,000 Christians "murdered by Boko Haram," an Islamic terror organization, just his year.
According to a report in the Washington Stand, Cruz wants those responsible to be held "accountable."
He said his proposed "Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act" would provide punishment, requiring the secretary of State of identify Nigerian officials who have "promoted, enacted, or maintained Nigerian blasphemy laws, including through public advocacy, legislative action, or executive enforcement directives" or "tolerated violence by non-state actors invoking religious justifications to commit acts of violence."
The plan would make Nigeria a "Country of Particular Concern" for its anti-Christian agenda and under the International Religious Freedom Act deliver sanctions to not just the nation, but its officials individually.
"Nigeria's federal government and a dozen state governments enforce blasphemy laws in their criminal and Sharia codes, and they ignore or facilitate mob violence targeting Christians," Cruz said.
The nation's "atrocities," he said, "are directly linked to the policies of Nigerian federal and state officials. They are the result of decisions made by specific people, in specific places, at specific times — and it says a great deal about who is lashing out now that a light is being shone on these issues," he continued. "The United States knows who those people are, and I intend to hold them accountable."
Nigerian officials pushed back, claiming Cruz's charges were "absurd."
"No Nigerian officials will willingly, deliberately indulge in the act of siding with violent extremists to target any particular religion in this country. This is absolutely false," a government statement said.
It was a report from a non-governmental group called Intersociety that charged the state with more than 50,000 Christians being murdered by Islamists since 2009.
"In March, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins petitioned Congress to designate Nigeria as a CPC due to the ongoing violent persecution of Christians there," the Stand report said.
"In Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, vicious attacks and bloodshed continue to surge, week after week, month after month. Christians are the primary targets of this terrorism, facing murders, rapes, kidnappings, and constant threats," Perkins said.
"The Nigerian government is not off the hook simply because non-state actors are the primary drivers of religious persecution. The government has a duty to protect all its citizens and their basic right to religious freedom, regardless of their faith," Perkins said.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., is accusing Jack Smith, the special counsel appointed under Joe Biden to work on some of the Democrats' lawfare cases against President Donald Trump, of "spying on political opponents."
WND has reported there's been confirmation about the extent and depth of the weaponization of the federal government under Biden, to include onetime special counsel Smith monitoring the communications of, and spying on, Republican senators.
A document, reviewed by Fox News Digital, revealed that Smith and his FBI activists working to undermine, even prosecute and jail, President Donald Trump "were allegedly tracking" telephone activity of GOP Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Josh Hawley of Missouri, Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, Dan Sullivan of Alaska, Tommy Tuberville of Alabama and GOP Rep. Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania.
Dan Bongino, the deputy FBI director, briefed multiple senators, including Graham, Hawley, Johnson, Blackburn and more, Monday.
Hawley said the scheme to be "spying on the presidents political opponents" was "a profound violation of the separation of powers."
Hawley said the actions align with what he described as the broader pattern of executive overreach under Biden's White House.
He cited the surveillance that was ordered of Catholic churches, parents at school board meetings, and social media censorship, too.
"The truth comes out. Biden's Stasi who claimed to be saving 'our sacred democracy' in fact worked overtime to destroy it — all for power. They spied on Catholic churches, prosecuted pro-lifers, deployed the FBI against parents at school board meetings — and tried to tap the phones of their political enemies. Including mine," Hawley wrote.
"This is an abuse of power beyond Watergate, beyond J. Edgar Hoover, one that directly strikes at the Constitution, the separation of powers, and the First Amendment. We need a full investigation of all involved: who knew about it, who ordered it, and who approved it. Anyone and everyone who violated the law must be prosecuted. The way to save the country is to restore the rule of law."
He said he was targeted because he is a conservative Republican and opposed Biden's "lawlessness," the report said.
"This is worse than Watergate," he said, as Biden "activated the entire government to go after anybody who dared to oppose him."
He explained, "We've got to have a total accountability, total transparency and a full accounting of everybody who was involved in this — everybody who knew about it, signed off on it, and had any part in it, and I just can't imagine that this is legal… and anybody who committed legal violations needs to be prosecuted."
One of Smith's lawfare cases against Trump involved Democrat claims that the January 6, 2021, protest turned riot in Washington actually was an insurrection, a deliberate attempt to overthrow to U.S. government. It apparently was in connection with those claims that he demanded access to the senators' telephone records.
The case eventually collapsed even has Smith continued to submit to the court various extravagant claims about Trump.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
A Catholic priest who wrote an article pointing out how Islamists regularly attack and persecute Christians around the world has been found guilty in a Spanish court of a so-called "hate crime."
Father Custodio Ballester, a parish priest in Barcelona, had written an article in 2016 describing "The Impossible Dialogue with Islam" that explained how Islam actually does not allow dialogue.
"For Islam, either you believe, or you are an infidel who must be subdued one way or another," he explained.
Now, a report at Lifesitenews confirms he was found guilty of "Islamophobic" statements.
The report noted the court decision "has Catholics as well as free speech advocates concerned."
His accusers used a Spanish law to claim his comments about Islam actually were a "hate crime."
"Ballester wrote his essay in response to a pastoral letter by his superior, the archbishop of Barcelona, Cardinal Juan José Omella, titled 'The Necessary Dialogue with Islam.' In his rebuttal, Ballester wrote: 'This new reactivation of Christian-Muslim dialogue, paralyzed by the alleged 'imprudences' on the part of the late Pope Benedict XVI, is very far from becoming a reality. Islam does not allow dialogue. For Islam, either you believe, or you are an infidel who must be subdued one way or another," the report confirmed.
Ballester explained to Catholic News Agency authorities demanded to use him as an example "so that others censor themselves.":
The offense, in Spain, carries a penalty up to four years in prison.
Ballester said, in the report, he'll appeal to the European Court of Human Rights if he is ordered to jail.
"People are very angry about the excessive sentences being sought for 'hate crimes,' which are comparable to those sought for sexual assault or leaving someone paralyzed in a fight," Ballester told CNA.
The report explained, "According to Islamic Sharia law, Christians and Jews who refuse to convert to Islam are not recognized as full citizens but considered semi-slaves called 'dhimmi' who have to pay a special tax called 'jizyah.' The OpenDoors 'Word Watch List' shows that the majority of the top 50 countries in which Christians are most persecuted are Islamic states."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
A new result from Gallup's polling shows that Americans' trust in the media, simply to report news fully, accurately and fairly, has plummeted.
It revealed a record-low 28% said they trust the media a great deal or fair amount to do that job.
And social media immediately went snarky.
"Alternative headline: '28% of Americans are stupid,'" said one. Another; "Coincidentally, 28% of Americans are retards."
A commentary at Twitchy said, "When it comes to credibility, the legacy media has been working on sawing off the same branch they're sitting on for decades now, and that limb finally has snapped off and is plunging toward the ground with the MSM still clinging to it."
It continued, "Along the way, the public trust in media has been dropping right along with them."
It cited the media's service to one political party "as propagandists."
That 28% figure is down three points from just a year ago, and down from 40% just five years ago.
The Hill confirmed, "A total of 7-in-10 adults expressed skepticism in the news media, indicating they have 'not very much' trust in news outlets or 'none at all.'"
The report added, "Trust in media has never been particularly high among those in the GOP, Gallup found, noting the number of Republicans who indicated they trusted media outlets has not risen above 20 percent since 2015, the year President Donald Trump first ran for the White House."
Gallup's analysis said, "With confidence fractured along partisan and generational lines, the challenge for news organizations is not only to deliver fair and accurate reporting but also to regain credibility across an increasingly polarized and skeptical public."
The results come at a time when vast majorities of Americans in various groups get most of their news from social media, online sources and the like.
Also, it comes after a time frame of years in which legacy media have been caught over and over pushing the Democrats' political agenda, as reflected by multiple huge settlements the organizations have paid out recently to President Donald Trump, who sued over their bias.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
President Donald Trump confirmed that he now can do things "that are irreversible" to cut government costs after Democrats in Congress refused to give up their spending spree demands.
The government entered a partial shutdown at midnight after the party failed in its insistence that the GOP agreed to hand out $1.5 trillion to Democrats' favorite people.
The trigger for the shutdown was the Democrats refusal to go along with a short-term spending program in the Senate, which was supported by Republicans, and even a Democrat or two.
"We can do things during the shutdown that are irreversible, that are bad for them, and irreversible by them," the president confirmed.
The Congressional Budget Office estimated 750,000 federal workers would be furloughed each day, amounting to about $400 million in compensation that is delayed.
That compensation is not paid routinely, but seldom is it lost entirely as Congress almost always grants makeup pay when a shutdown concludes.
Individual agencies and programs that were funded from the president's "Big, Beautiful Bill" just weeks ago maintain their funding.
Members of Congress will continue to be paid.
Republicans are keeping the Senate in session to hold repeated votes on the plan that already has been adopted in the House, where Democrats unsuccessfully opposed it.
Minority Democrats in the Senate successfully shut down the government as the GOP majority needs a few Democrat votes to reach the 60-vote filibuster threshold.
A new New York Times/Siena College survey revealed that only a minority of Democrat voters, 47%, support the closure.
"[Sen. Chuck Schumer's] being held hostage by the liberal wing of the party after he did the right thing in March. He was severely punished," Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., "They're not thinking ahead of the impact and the damage it's going to do to the American people."
The Washington Examiner reported the deadlock happened because of "Democratic demands to extend expiring enhanced Obamacare subsidies" as well as massive benefits for illegal aliens in the country.
"In a sign of growing division among Democrats, caucus members Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) and Angus King (I-ME) joined Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) in siding with Republicans," the report noted.
GOP leaders have suggested that eventually there will be enough pressure on Democrats that the needed handful of votes will break with Schumer's shutdown agenda.
Trump already had plans in place, promising to use the time to further shrink the federal workforce and government spending by worker layoffs and rollbacks for government programs.
The expiring enhancement of Obamacare credits was due to the Democrats' own writing of legislation during the COVID-19 panic, when they were created.
"There isn't any substantive reason why there ought to be a government shutdown. This is something that has been done routinely, as I said, 13 different times when the Democrats had the majority. But we are not going to be held hostage for over $1 trillion in new spending on a continuing resolution," Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said ahead of the vote.
Fox reported, "President Donald Trump and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) now have wide discretion over what federal services will remain active."
Democrats insisted on blaming the GOP for the shutdown, demanding additional spending of about $1.5 trillion, including a complete reversal of many components of the "Big, Beautiful Bill" and Congress adopted just weeks ago.