Trump, in cabinet meeting: 'My Administration continues to deliver despite the radical left lunatics that shut down our Government'

Donald Trump gathered his Cabinet at the White House for his eighth meeting, amid the government shutdown and hours after reaching a peace deal between Israel and Hamas.

"We are here this morning as my Administration continues to deliver for the American People, despite the radical left lunatics that shut down our government," the president opened the meeting before the cameras, remarking that the Democratic Party was leaderless: "We have no idea who we are dealing with over there."

The 'Democrat shutdown'

"We’re only cutting Democrat programs... We will be cutting some very popular Democrat programs that aren’t popular with Republicans," the president also said, accusing Democrats of using the health of Americans as a bargaining chip in the negotiations.

The president had warned Democrats that, should the budget standoff continue, he would take advantage of it to cut programs and positions. "That’s the way it works," he said Thursday. "They wanted to do this [for the shutdown] so we will give them a little taste of their own medicine."

The president had previously warned that not all public employees would receive back pay when he reopened the government, as is the custom. Hours before the meeting, an internal memo from the White House Office of Management and Budget had been leaked warning furloughed employees that they were not guaranteed pay.

Picking up on the "Democrat shutdown" thread, Attorney General Pam Bondi celebrated that "our law enforcement officers are working without paychecks round the clock to keep and make America Safe."

"Last night alone we made 91 arrests," he reported about Memphis, where he traveled recently with Secretary of War Pete Hegseth. One of them, he said, had a warrant for his arrest and three others for rape.

Trump: 'We ended the war in Gaza'

Several Cabinet members celebrated the peace agreement reached overnight. "We ended the war in Gaza," the president said, saying it was "hopefully" lasting and would have effects beyond the Strip: "On a much bigger basis we created peace… peace in the Middle East."

The hostages will be released, he assured, on Monday or Tuesday: "That will be a day of joy… I will try to make a trip over there." Trump advanced that he plans to go to Egypt to seal the agreement with his own signature. 

"We settled major conflicts or wars, this is number eight," he also said. And about the big pending one, between Russia and Ukraine: "I think that 's gonna happen too."

"None of it would've been possible without the president of the United States," added the secretary of state, Marco Rubio. The Cuban-American politician assured that the personal relations sowed by Trump in his trip to the Middle East were key to bring positions closer. "A month ago I never thought it was possible."

DHS to buy buildings in Chicago and Portland

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem assured that her department is purchasing facilities in the cities of Chicago and Portland to continue immigration operations.

The announcement comes amid a back-and-forth between the government and both Democratic cities, which refuse to cooperate with the administration's immigration policy. In one of their latest offensives, the Democrats banned access to local public facilities, for example in Chicago declaring them "ICE Free Zones." In a recent video, you can see how they prohibited Noem herself from entering a government building in Illinois.

"I was there a few days ago and looked at some facilities that we can deploy more law enforcement out of... because what they're trying to do with these riots and violence is distract us and keep us from going after those murderers and rapists that are out on the streets," the secretary maintained to the rest of the Cabinet.