As the clock ticked down to a potential government shutdown at midnight Tuesday, President Donald Trump said: "nothing is inevitable."

Still, he said a shutdown is "probably likely."

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump continued to blame congressional Democrats for the possible shutdown, despite Republicans controlling both chamber of Congress and the White House.

“They are shutting it down, we’re not shutting it down,” he said.

Trump also threatened political retribution unless a funding deal is reached.

“We can do things during the shutdown that are irreversible that are bad for them, and then irreversible by them,” he said, suggesting reductions to federal programs Democrats support.

Trump didn’t elaborate but said actions during a shutdown could include “cutting vast numbers of people out, cutting things that they like, cutting programs that they like.”

Trump and fellow Republican leaders in Congress have been falsely claiming that Democrats are threatening to shut down the government unless they can get money to pay for health care for people living in the U.S. illegally.