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President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Senate Democrats are "holding the entire federal government hostage" during the shutdown, vowing, "We will not be extorted on this crazy plot of theirs."

Trump, speaking during a lunch at the White House Rose Garden, said, "Chuck Schumer and the Senate Democrats need to vote for the clean, bipartisan CR and reopen our government. It's got to be reopened right now.

"They are the obstructionists. And the reason they're doing it is because we're doing so well. We're doing well all over the world."

The president described Schumer as a politician who is in "deep trouble" and "losing in all of the polls."

GOP BLAMES SCHUMER FOR SHUTDOW

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