Trump seems to be uncharacteristically out of the loop as the shutdown drags on

Mark Wilson/Getty Images

President Donald Trump

• The government shutdown has entered into its third day.
• President Donald Trump has done little publicly, aside from tweeting, during the shutdown.
• According to reports, Trump is staying away from the fray and only communicating with Republican leaders.

As Congress scrambles to find a solution to break the stalemate over the government shutdown, one person has been uncharacteristically quiet: President Donald Trump.

While the White House has maintained that Trump is involved with negotiations, the president did not make a public appearance over the weekend. The White House only released photos of what they said showed him working in the Oval Office on Saturday. But the extent of his public involvement included tweeting insults at Democrats for their role in the shutdown.

According to a report from the New York Times, Trump spent much of Saturday watching clips of himself during the 2013 shutdown blaming then-President Barack Obama.

Some senators have complained. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Saturday that the White House was simply giving him the run around in negotiations.

"Unfortunately, the president and Republican leaders in Congress are like Abbott and Costello," Schumer said.
"The congressional leaders tell me to negotiate with President Trump. President Trump tells me to figure it out with Republican leaders."

The Minority Leader also compared negotiations with Trump to "negotiating with Jell-O" after he said the president agreed to the broad outline of a deal to address immigration, healthcare, and funding on Friday but then backed down later.

According to the multiple reports, Trump has held calls with Republican leaders,including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan, but has stayed out of touch with Democrats. His strategy appears to largely be to let Congress work out the details themselves.

Republicans leaders in Congress have advised Trump to stay away despite his inclination to get involved directly, according to The Washington Post.

Even some Republicans are complaining about the White House's role in the negotiations. But instead of pinning the blame on Trump, GOP members blame the staff around him.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, who is among a group of bipartisan senators attempting to find a compromise and end the shutdown, pointed the finger at Stephen Miller, a senior policy adviser.

"As long as Stephen Miller is in charge of negotiating immigration, we are going nowhere," Graham said

Graham, who said prior to the shutdown that lawmakers "don't have a reliable partner at the White House to negotiate with," also complained that various deals on the table supported by Trump could have solved the immigration issue and prevented the shutdown.

"I've talked with the president - his heart is right on this issue," Graham told reporters. "He's got a good understanding of what will sell, and every time we have a proposal it is only yanked back by staff members."

Trump's schedule for Monday does not include any public events.