Washington – On Thursday morning, as thousands of federal employees stayed home and faced potential layoffs because of the government shutdown, President Donald Trump got right to work on social media.

He started by sharing praise from supporters. Then he falsely claimed that “DEMOCRATS WANT TO GIVE YOUR HEALTHCARE MONEY TO ILLEGAL ALIENS.” And then he announced that he would meet with his top budget adviser to figure out where to make permanent cuts to federal programs that “are a political SCAM.”

All that was before 8 a.m., just one flurry in a blizzard of online commentary from the president as the government shutdown entered a second day. Like so many other times when he’s faced complex crises with no easy solutions, Trump seems determined to post his way through it.

The stream of

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