The following is the transcript of the interview with Robert Costa that aired on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on Sept. 28, 2025.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Good morning and welcome to Face The Nation. We have breaking news as we begin what is likely to be another turbulent week here in Washington. Congress faces a government shutdown deadline of October 1. Our Robert Costa spoke this morning to President Trump. Bob, top leaders, both parties, both sides of the Capitol, are coming to the White House. Did the President tell you he thinks a shutdown can be avoided?
ROBERT COSTA: A shutdown looks likely at this point based on my conversation this morning with President Trump. He says both sides are at a stalemate. Democrats want to extend health care subsidies that were part of the Affordable Care Act, but President Trump said his focus on health care is on preventing undocumented migrants from having access to any of the U.S. health care system. Now, it’s illegal for any non-citizen to have that sort of access, but President Trump says we’re not going to have it. Quote, we’re not going to allow it, in terms of moving forward on any discussion, unless the Democrats come to his side on health care and don’t focus on the subsidies. But based on my conversations with top Democrats, that’s not going to happen. So President Trump told me quote, I just don’t know how we are going to solve this issue. That makes a shutdown quite likely. And inside the White House, sources are saying President Trump actually welcomes a shutdown in the sense that he believes he can wield executive power to get rid of what he calls waste, fraud and abuse. And there is that memo, as you mentioned, that says the government is ready to have mass firings if a deal isn’t struck.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Reductions in force, right. Well, we also know that the President took some extraordinary public statements in the past few days. He publicly said he wants to see Adam Schiff, now a senator, Letitia James prosecuted along with James Comey, the former FBI director who is now indicted. Yesterday, he twice posted on social media about former FBI Director Chris Wray. Did the President tell you, is he planning prosecutions?
COSTA: I did not speak directly to the president about that today. But fishing around all weekend in his inner circle, it’s clear, this is just the beginning in terms of possible prosecutions of those who have scrutinized the president or criticized him over the years. You mentioned the mortgage policy, potentially, of Senator Adam Schiff of California. He’s being discussed inside of the Trump administration. So is Letitia James, the New York Attorney General, who sued the president over how he valued his real estate holdings. And there are others not even on our radar at this moment, like retired Joint Chiefs Chairman Mark Milley, who are being discussed as people who have, may have taken action against the administration or president in some way, allegedly, in the views of those inside. And they want to see the Justice Department hold them to account. There’s such a gap right now in Washington. Republicans believe what President Trump is doing is accountability. Democrats are alarmed and see this as authoritarian government at work. And there’s a real tension there that’s not going away.
MARGARET BRENNAN: No. And a justice system that has to deal with evidence and facts.
And we’re going to talk about all of this ahead with some of our guests. Robert Costa, thank you very much for your reporting.
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