Democrats cancel meeting as Donald Trump rules out budget deal

WASHINGTON: The top two Democratic leaders in Congress pulled out of a meeting with President Donald Trump on Tuesday after he tweeted that a budget deal with them was unlikely, raising the odds that the US government will partially shut down next week.

“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 and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a joint statement.

They said they’d skip a “show meeting” at the White House scheduled for 3 p.m. New York time and instead ask for a meeting with their Republican counterparts, House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Trump sparked the dispute with a tweet earlier on Tuesday.

“Meeting with ‘Chuck and Nancy’ today about keeping government open and working,” Trump said on Twitter.

“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!”

White House aides didn’t immediately respond to requests to elaborate on Trump’s declaration. McConnell said in his own tweet that he would meet with Trump as planned. It wasn’t clear from the tweet whether the Republican leader was referring to a lunch Trump is scheduled to have with all GOP senators at the Capitol or the planned White House meeting between the president and congressional leaders.

If Democrats and Republicans do not reach a deal on spending by Dec. 8, the federal government could face a partial shutdown. Some Democrats have called for any year-end spending deal to include legislation to codify an Obama administration policy protecting from deportation young undocumented immigrants brought to the country as children.