Travelers wait at a security checkpoint at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois, on Nov. 7, 2025. Hundreds of flights were canceled across the United States on Friday after the Trump administration ordered reductions to ease strain on air traffic controllers who are working without pay during the federal shutdown.

Call it the prime directive of the Hypocritical Oath: First, do as much harm as possible to win an argument, and then claim it isn’t your fault.

That seems to be the guiding principle of the Trump administration, which over the course of a six-weeks-and-counting federal shutdown has been bent on inflicting pain on Americans.

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The goal has been to force Democrats to bow to President Donald J. Trump’s will rather than negotiate the central issue: Mr. Trump and his fellow........

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