Press Gaggle: Donald Trump Speaks to Reporters After Air Force One Arrival - October 17, 2025

Mr. President, how long is the government shutdown going to last?

So the shutdown continues. The Republican Party's not going to pay a trillion and a half dollars to, uh, illegal immigrants coming into our country, coming in for a lot of reasons. Coming in from prisons, from jails, from all over the place, from Venezuela -- many countries.

We're not going to do that. So the shutdown continues. It's a democrat shutdown. It's a Schumer shutdown, because his career has failed, and it's over.

I met with President Zelenskyy, as you know, today. And we had a very good meeting, very cordial meeting. In my opinion, they should stop the war immediately. You go by the battle line, wherever it is. Otherwise, it's too complicated. You'll never be able to figure it out.

You stop at the battle line, and both sides should go home, go to their families, stop the killing, and that should be it. Stop right now at the battle line. I told that to President Zelenskyy. I told it to President Putin.

Thank you very much, everybody.