President Donald Trump on Tuesday suggested that some federal workers “don’t deserve to be taken care of” during the ongoing government shutdown , signaling that his Administration is open to denying back pay to hundreds of thousands of furloughed employees once the impasse ends.

“I would say it depends on who we’re talking about,” Trump said when asked whether furloughed employees would receive pay once the shutdown lifts. “For the most part, we’re going to take care of our people. There are some people that really don’t deserve to be taken care of, and we’ll take care of them in a different way.”

He did not elaborate or clarify which federal workers “don’t deserve to be taken care of.” But his comments signal a growing willingness inside the White House to use the shutdown as lever

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