President Donald Trump has made it clear he has no plans to negotiate, stating he "will not be extorted" by Democrats to reopen the government, as the shutdown heads toward its sixth week.

In an interview with CBS's "60 Minutes" broadcast on Sunday, Trump dismissed the Democrats' demand for an extension of healthcare subsidies as "out of touch" and predicted they would eventually yield to Republicans who have stated they will not negotiate until a vote to reopen the government is held.

"They should, and if they don't vote, that's their problem," Trump said.

Senate Democrats have voted against reopening the government 13 times so far, arguing that President Trump and Republicans must first negotiate healthcare subsidies, including ObamaCare subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year.

Earlier, Trump urged Republican leadership to abolish the filibuster, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Mike Johnson stated they would reject the proposal to maintain democracy.

This reaction came as Trump ordered Republicans to act preemptively, arguing that Democrats would eliminate the filibuster if they gained power.

Republican leaders expect to resolve the shutdown issue while preserving the filibuster, as moderate Democrats have been discussing compromise proposals with Republican lawmakers for weeks that could guarantee a vote on healthcare legislation in exchange for reopening the government.

"We need five courageous senators to put the lives of American citizens ahead of political power," said McConnell.

Senator Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said on ABC's "This Week" on Sunday that there is a group discussing a solution to the healthcare crisis. He also stated that there are Republican members who have promised not to lay off any more federal employees, but it is unclear whether such discussions will lead to a concrete compromise, according to AP.

In Georgia, 97 Republican state representatives and senators, including State Representative Jong Su-hong (Republican), sent a letter urging Senators Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock to vote in favor of a continuing resolution (CR) to end the federal government shutdown.

In his "60 Minutes" interview, Trump called the "ACA," also known as "ObamaCare," which was signed and promoted by former President Obama, "terrible," and stated that if Democrats vote to reopen the government, he will "work to fix the bad health care system that we have now."

The contentious issue is whether to extend the ACA subsidies, which were temporarily added during the COVID-19 pandemic. These additional subsidies were originally designed to expire at the end of 2025.

Democrats argue that once these additional subsidies expire, premiums will rise starting January 1st of next year, burdening low-income households, and therefore negotiations are necessary to resolve this issue.

Conversely, Republican leaders counter that the suspension of additional subsidies will only increase actual premiums by about 6%, calling the Democrats' claims lies. They argue that this negotiation is a political maneuver to push for entirely different demands.

As both parties remain at an impasse, the government shutdown, which is currently in its 33rd day, is expected to set a record for the longest in history.

The previous record was set in 2019 by President Trump, who demanded funding for the construction of a U.S.-Mexico border wall from Congress.

The government closure, which lasted 35 days from December 2018 to January 2019, ended when President Trump withdrew his demand for border wall funding. At that time, there were widespread delays at airports nationwide and the salaries of hundreds of thousands of federal employees were suspended multiple times.

Mainstream media outlets reported extensively on flight delays due to a shortage of air traffic controllers and hunger among low-income individuals due to the suspension of SNAP benefits.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated on CNN on Sunday regarding SNAP benefits that the administration is awaiting a court order.

"The best way to get SNAP benefits paid out is for Democrats, five Democrats, to transcend party and reopen the government," Bessent said.

By Sung Ku Hong, Editor-in-Chief of NNP / Special Correspondent for this publication NNP info@newsandpost.com