Trumpworld pushes the president to continue shutdown: 'What the hell do you have to lose?'

Donald Trump's allies think he's doing the right thing by continuing his government shutdown over a Mexican border wall -- because they don't believe it will hurt him.

A former White House staffer told BuzzFeed news that it's an "all around a good move" for Trump to keep the shutdown fight going.

"In Trump's own words: 'What the hell do you have to lose?'" the ex-staffer said.

"This is why he got elected," the former Trump administration official continued. "He tried playing it by DC's rules, now he's doing it his way. He wasn't elected to do things the way they've always been done."

The report noted that during his marathon televised cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Trump said he would keep the government closed "as long as it takes" for Democrats to acquiesce on his demand for billions to fund his wall -- and that it "could be a long time" before it's reopened.

Earlier in the day, sources told reporters that when Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer asked Trump point-blank why he wouldn't reopen the government, the president responded that he didn't want to look "foolish."