U.S. President Donald Trump reacts after signing an executive order to create a White House Olympics task force to handle security and other issues related to the LA 2028 summer Olympics in the South Court Auditorium on the White House campus in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 5, 2025. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

Officials in President Donald Trump's administration reportedly didn't expect the ongoing government shutdown to last longer than 10 days. But as the shutdown approaches day 32, their boss is now pushing hard for it to end by any means necessary.

That's according to a Friday article by Politico's Myah Ward, Alex Gangitano and Dasha Burns, who reported that several unnamed sources in the Trump White House are confiding that Trump is "increasingly frustrated" with the shutdown and is now leaning on Senate Republicans to take extreme measures to quickly end it. Trump has recently been advocating for Senate Republicans to get rid of the filibuster (known as the "nuclear option") and pass the House of Representatives' continuing resolution to keep federal agencies funded with a simple majority vote.

"Trump, he’s had it with these people, because he knows they’re playing politics," one White House source said. "Nobody thought it was going to last this long."

Administration officials admitted to underestimating Democrats' commitment to maintain a unified front despite pressure to relent and avoid some of the worst consequences of the shutdown. And that frustration was amplified after Democrats continued to refuse to give Republicans the 60 votes needed to get a government funding bill to Trump's desk, despite federal workers being furloughed and Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought threatening permanent mass layoffs across various federal agencies.

Trump has demanded on his Truth Social platform that Senate Republicans "INITIATE THE NUCLEAR OPTION" to end the shutdown. However, should Democrats regain control of the Senate after next year's midterm elections, they could similarly pass legislation by a simple majority without fear of the filibuster.

"Democrats won’t do what’s best for the American people, the nuclear option will need to be invoked," White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said.

So far, Republicans appear unwilling to accommodate the president. When he became Senate Majority Leader, Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) said he was intent on keeping the filibuster in place. And his office told Politico on Friday that the GOP leader's "position on the importance of the legislative filibuster is unchanged."

Click here to read Politico's report in its entirety.