WASHINGTON — President Trump threatened “irreversible” actions Tuesday if congressional Democrats force a partial government shutdown at midnight.

“We can do things during the shutdown that are irreversible that are bad for them and irreversible by them, like cutting vast numbers of people out, cutting things that they like, cutting programs that they like,” Trump told reporters Tuesday afternoon in the Oval Office, referring to Democrats.

“You all know [White House budget director] Russell Vought, he’s become very popular recently because he can trim the budget to a level that you couldn’t do any other way. So they’re taking a risk by having a shutdown,” he went on.

“[In a shutdown,] we can do things medically and other ways, including benefits, we can cut large numbers of people that

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