Government 'needs a good shutdown,' frustrated Trump tweets

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump declared Tuesday the U.S. government "needs a good shutdown" this fall to fix a "mess" in the Senate, signaling on Twitter his displeasure with a bill to keep operations running.

[...] Republican leaders and Trump himself also praised the stopgap measure as a major accomplishment and a sign of his masterful negotiating with Democrats.

On the defensive, Trump and his allies issued a flurry of contradictory statements ahead of key votes in Congress on a $1.1 trillion spending bill to keep the government at full speed through September.

Trump's embrace of such a disruptive event came days after he accused Senate Democrats of seeking that same outcome and obstructing majority Republicans during budget negotiations.

The spending bill is set for a House vote on Wednesday, when it's likely to win widespread bipartisan support, though a host of GOP conservatives will oppose the measure, calling it a missed opportunity.

[...] the White House on Monday had praised the deal as a win for the nation's military, health benefits for coal miners and other Trump priorities.

The reason for the plan negotiated between the Republicans and Democrats is that we need 60 votes in the Senate which are not there! He added that we either elect more Republican Senators in 2018 or change the rules now to 51 (percent).

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said the spending agreement came from a bipartisan negotiation, adding, The leaders — Democrat, Republican, House and Senate — work well together.