President Donald Trump gave an odd 42-minute speech in the Rose Garden, during a White House lunch with Republican senators. The event was supposed to be about the government shutdown, but it took a strange turn when Trump called his Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought “Darth Vader.”
The speech, held in the newly paved Rose Garden, touched on different topics like the shutdown, Democrats, and construction noise. But it was Trump’s Star Wars comment that got everyone talking on social media.
About 35 minutes into his speech, Trump saw Vought in the crowd and suddenly said in the video in X, “I will say this, that we have Darth Vader. You know Darth Vader, right? Darth Vader is a man who, I think, is sitting right… Is that Darth? Stand up, please.” The president was not talking about the Star Wars character. He was talking about Vought, who has been making big cuts to programs that Democrats support.
The Darth Vader Comment Was Weird But Trump Had A Point
Trump explained why he gave Vought this nickname by talking about his work cutting Democratic programs. “He’s cutting Democrat priorities, and they’re never going to get them back,” Trump said. “They’ve caused this, and they’ve really allowed us to do it.” The president also called Vought “a good man” who was “doing a really great job.”
Trump gave an example of these cuts by talking about New York’s $20 billion Gateway Tunnel project, which lost its funding. He said, “They’re losing all the things that they wanted… the things that are just so bad for our country.” The Star Wars villain comparison seemed to be Trump’s way of praising Vought for his tough approach to budget cuts, especially ones that hurt Democratic projects.
The speech got a lot of different reactions online. Some people thought the comparison was odd, while others were confused about what the president was saying. One person pointed out that if Trump knows his movies, things did not end well for Darth Vader. Another person joked that “Vader brought balance to the force,” maybe seeing a funny connection to Vought’s budget work.
The strange speech has made people wonder about how the president talks during serious policy talks. The government shutdown is still not fixed, and Trump’s focus on Star Wars references instead of real solutions has gotten attention from both critics and supporters. While some people have said Trump knows how to connect with certain voters, this speech left many people wondering what his main concerns are during the shutdown.
Published: Oct 22, 2025 02:28 pm