President Trump has landed in South Korea, arriving with the weight of a home-grown crisis still unresolved: the U.S. government shutdown has now stretched to nearly a month, leaving the country in deep uncertainty and millions of families anxious about what comes next.
Back in Washington, the stalemate remains frozen. Lawmakers still haven’t agreed on a funding bill since the government’s budget expired — and the shutdown, which started October 1, 2025, has now become one of the longest in American history.
Workers Without Pay, Bills Without Mercy
Every day the shutdown drags on, hundreds of thousands of federal employees are caught in limbo — many still working full-time jobs without pay, while others have been sent home with no paycheck at all. The number of people affected rises above 1.4 million workers across the nation.
Behind those numbers are real lives:
▪ families juggling rent and groceries
▪ air traffic controllers trying to stay focused despite stress
▪ civil servants wondering how long they can hold on
The Shutdown’s Price Tag Grows
Economists warn that each passing week is taking a hefty toll on the U.S. economy — estimates project billions of dollars in lost productivity every week, money that may never be recovered.
Communities are feeling pressure too: some states worry that food assistance programs could be disrupted if the shutdown keeps stretching on.
Politics Abroad, Pain at Home
While the President holds high-stakes meetings in Seoul, the strain at home keeps growing. Americans are watching anxiously, hoping the shutdown ends before more damage is done — both to the economy and to the public trust.