WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump on Wednesday addressed the ongoing government shutdown, calling Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer a “loser.”

“This is a Democrat Schumer shutdown and he’s trying to do it to get relevance back into the party because he’s a loser,” Trump said during an Oval Office press conference.

The president added that he has known Schumer “all his life.”

“He’s always been sort of a loser — but an intelligent one. I think he’s losing IQ points with time,” he continued.

Trump said that he hopes not to follow Schumer down this path, but added that, if it did, he’s confident the media would be quick to report it.

As of Wednesday, the government shutdown had entered its 15th day, with no indication of ending any time soon. In the afternoon, the Senate voted again to block the House-passed continuing resolution to reopen the government.

The vote was 51-44. The resolution needs 60 votes to pass.

Before the vote on Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said if necessary, they would vote again on Thursday.

There is growing speculation that the shutdown may not end until after the nationwide “No Kings” protests scheduled for this Saturday.

The protest is reportedly described as a “peaceful national day of action and mass mobilization in response to the increasing authoritarian excesses and corruption of the Trump administration.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson told Fox News that Democrats are holding off until then, and he “can’t believe they’re actually doing this.”

“They have a Hate America rally scheduled for Oct. 18 on the National Mall. It’s all the Pro-Hamas wing, the Antifa people, they’re all coming out,” Johnson said. “It’s being told to us that they won’t be able to reopen the government until after that rally because they can’t face their rabid base.”

WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told him that India will stop buying oil from Russia, a move Trump described as a “big step” in efforts to isolate Moscow economically.

“So I was not happy that India was buying oil, and he assured me today that they will not be buying oil from Russia,” Trump told reporters during a White House event.

“That’s a big step. Now we’re going to get China to do the same thing.”

The Indian embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to emailed questions about whether Modi had made such a commitment to Trump.

An Indian pledge to halt buying Russian oil would mark a potential turning point in global energy diplomacy, as Washington intensifies efforts to choke Moscow’s oil revenues amid its ongoing war in Ukraine.

It would also signal a major shift by one of Moscow’s top energy customers and could reshape the calculus for other nations still importing Russian crude. It comes as Trump seeks to leverage bilateral relationships to enforce economic isolation, rather than relying solely on multilateral sanctions.

During his comments to reporters, Trump added that India could not “immediately” halt shipments, calling it “a little bit of a process, but that process will be over soon.”

(Reporting by Nandita Bose in Washington and Jarrett Renshaw in Philadelphia; additional reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Chris Reese and Rami Ayyub)