Speaker Mike Johnson is learning that standing too close to Donald Trump comes with a price. The two have spent weeks trying to pin the ongoing government shutdown on Democrats, but Trump’s unpredictable comments keep undercutting Johnson’s strategy and leaving Republicans scrambling to explain the mixed messages.
On paper, they’re aligned. In reality, Trump’s tendency to say whatever comes to mind has made Johnson’s shutdown plan look shaky. During an interview with The New Republic’s Greg Sargent, strategist Maura Quint laid out what’s happening behind the scenes. “Trump both wants to pretend that he is being magnanimous and he’s governing for all of America, while at the same time, he obviously just wants to govern by fiat,” she said. “What we have, of course, is that the Democrats have been in D.C. ready to have any sort of conversation and Republicans haven’t even been there.”
Sargent then played a clip of Trump talking about the shutdown and whether he would negotiate with Democrats. “I’m always going to meet. All they have to do is open up the country. Let them open up the country and we’ll meet. We’ll meet very quickly. But they have to open up the country. It’s their fault. Everything is their fault. It’s so easily solved,” Trump said.
That comment blew up Johnson’s plan almost immediately. Trump’s phrasing “open up the country” clashed with the speaker’s strategy of keeping the House closed to pressure Senate Democrats into passing the House’s version of the funding bill. Instead of reinforcing Johnson’s position, Trump’s comments made it sound like Democrats were the ones holding everything hostage, even though it’s the GOP’s deliberate inaction that’s keeping Washington paralyzed.
Quint couldn’t help but highlight the absurdity. “He doesn’t even say open up the government, right? He says open up the country,” she noted. “For all I know, he’s flip-flopping on his stance on borders. Maybe he doesn’t want those anymore.” Her point wasn’t just about word choice—it was about how easily Trump derails his own team’s message.
It’s not the first time the president has gone off-script in a way that hurts his allies. He’s also called on Senate Republicans to eliminate the filibuster and push through the House funding bill on party lines—an idea that directly contradicts Johnson’s public stance that the Senate must act under the existing rules. Each time Trump freelances, it forces Johnson to adjust on the fly and defend positions that seem to shift by the hour.
Quint summed it up bluntly: “Republicans aren’t in disarray. They’ve been in very clear array, they just sort of line up like little baby ducklings behind whatever Trump says. The problem is, Trump is kind of weaving all over the place, so it’s very, very hard to follow.”
For Johnson, that chaos is impossible to manage. He needs unity, message discipline, and time to negotiate. What he’s getting instead is a political partner who changes the narrative daily, sabotaging the very plan they’re supposed to be executing together.
