‘Bye-bye’: Trump walks out of ‘waste of time’ meeting with Schumer, Pelosi by Steven Nelson

Posted By on January 9th, 2019

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/bye-bye-trump-walks-out-of-waste-of-time-meeting-with-schumer-pelosi?utm_source=WEX_Breaking%20News%20Alert_01/09/2019&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=WEX_Breaking%20News

President Trump on Wednesday walked out of a White House meeting with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., after the Democrats said they wouldn’t agree to fund a border wall, suggesting talks to end the government shutdown may have blown up catastrophically.

“Just left a meeting with Chuck and Nancy, a total waste of time,” Trump tweeted. “I asked what is going to happen in 30 days if I quickly open things up, are you going to approve Border Security which includes a Wall or Steel Barrier? Nancy said, NO. I said bye-bye, nothing else works!”

The meeting, which lasted only 15 minutes, was the latest attempt by Trump, Pelosi, and Schumer to reach an agreement to fund the government. The government has been partially shut down for nearly three weeks because they can’t agree on funding the border wall that Trump wants to build on the southern U.S. border.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Schumer called Trump’s departure “somewhat unbecoming of a presidency.” Trump had become furious, according to Schumer.

“He sort of slammed the table, and when Leader Pelosi said she didn’t agree with the wall, he just walked out and said, ‘We have nothing to discuss,'” Schumer said.

Republicans disputed Schumer’s characterization of Trump’s conduct. “I don’t recall him ever raising his voice or slamming his hand,” Vice President Mike Pence told reporters later, saying Trump had walked into the session handing out candy.

Pence said that Trump asked Democrats whether he would get anything if the White House gave them all they wanted, and Democrats indicated they had no reason to do anything for the president.

About 800,000 federal workers will miss a paycheck on Friday if Trump and Democratic leaders do not resolve the funding bill fight centered on Trump’s desire for $5.7 billion for a Mexico border wall.

Without any deal in Congress, Trump has threatened to invoke his emergency powers to fund the wall.

Pence led a three-person White House team seeking to negotiate with Democratic leaders over the weekend, but he told reporters that Schumer and Pelosi have been unwilling to budge.

“We incorporated Democrat ideas and language in our proposal and made an offer to resolve this impasse and address the crisis at our southern border. And today, in this brief meeting, we heard once again that Democratic leaders are unwilling to even negotiate,” Pence said.

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