Trump Says He's 'Happy To Work' With Democrats On 'Failed' Healthcare Policies, But Calls To End Government Shutdown

President Donald Trump on Monday called on the Democrats to end the government shutdown, which is now in its sixth day, while also expressing his willingness to negotiate with them on healthcare, the key sticking point.

In a Truth Social post, Trump said, “Democrats have SHUT DOWN the United States Government right in the midst of one of the most successful Economies, including a Record Stock Market, that our Country has ever had.” The president lamented that this has affected several programs, services and other things the Americans rely on, adding that “It should not have happened.

After the Republicans and Democrats could not agree on a stopgap funding deal, the government has been shut down since the start of the fiscal year (October 1). In a report released last Wednesday, Morgan Stanley strategists stated that the possibility of permanent layoffs among federal workers, as well as delays in economic reports, could make the first shutdown in six years more consequential than previous instances.

Notwithstanding the headwind, the stock market has been on a tear, clocking fresh highs in a trot. On Monday, all the major stock market gauges closed at fresh records, thanks to the boost provided by artificial intelligence (AI) news flow.

For the year-to-date (YTD) period, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that tracks the S&P 500 Index, and the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) have gained 15.6% and 19.3%, respectively. On Stocktwits, retail traders remained cautious, with the sentiment toward both the SPY and QQQ ETF remaining ‘bearish’ by late Monday. The message volume on the SPY stream remained ‘high,’ while that on the QQQ was at ‘normal’ levels. 

In his post, Trump said, “I am happy to work with the Democrats on their Failed Healthcare Policies, or anything else, but first they must allow our Government to reopen. In fact, they should open our Government tonight!”

The failure to clinch a funding deal is primarily due to the Democrats’ insistence on extending healthcare funding, mainly the Obamacare subsidies that are set to expire. The expiration of healthcare funding would result in a sharp spike in the healthcare premiums Americans pay. Meanwhile, the Republicans want a plan to keep the government funded until Nov. 21 and negotiate spending policy only through the regular funding process. 

The iShares U.S. Healthcare ETF (IYH), which is up about 5.4% YTD, attracted ‘neutral’ sentiment, a deterioration from the ‘bullish’ mood seen the day before, but the message volume stayed ‘high.’

Earlier in the day, while talking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said, “We have a negotiation going on right now with the Democrats that could lead to very good things. And I’m talking about good things with regard to health care, the Hill reported. When asked if the Affordable Care Act (ACA), aka Obamacare Act, subsidies would be extended, the president said, “If we made the right deal, I’d make a deal. Sure.”

“You have subsidies, that’s the problem with ObamaCare. The subsidies are so much, it’s billions and billions of dollars is being wasted. And we could have a much better health care than we have right now. And we’re talking to them. I’m not saying that’s going to happen.”

For updates and corrections, email newsroom[at]stocktwits[dot]com.

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