Democratic leaders pulled out of a meeting scheduled with President Trump on Tuesday after the president tweeted that he didn't see any possibility of striking a deal with them on immigration or other issues.
“Given that the President doesn’t see a deal between Democrats and the White House, we believe the best path forward is to continue negotiating with our Republican counterparts in Congress instead," House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement.
"Rather than going to the White House for a show meeting that won’t result in an agreement, we’ve asked Leader McConnell and Speaker Ryan to meet this afternoon," they said.
Hours earlier, Trump tweeted that Schumer and Pelosi "want illegal immigrants flooding into our Country unchecked, are weak on crime and Crime and want to substantially RAISE taxes. I don't see a deal!"
Meeting with “Chuck and Nancy” today about keeping government open and working. Problem is they want illegal immigrants flooding into our Country unchecked, are weak on Crime and want to substantially RAISE Taxes. I don’t see a deal!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 28, 2017
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. and House Speaker Paul Ryan were also set to attend the White House meeting.
The group was expected to to discuss other pending end-of-year agenda items, include a new overall spending plan designed to avert a government shutdown that could start as early as Dec. 8. Also on the agenda: immigration.
“If the President, who already said earlier this year that ‘our country needs a good shutdown,’ isn’t interested in addressing the difficult year end agenda, we’ll work with those Republicans who are, as we did in April," Pelosi and Schumer said. "We look forward to continuing to work in good faith, as we have been for the last month, with our Republican colleagues in Congress to do just that.”
