President Trump walked out of a meeting with Congressional leaders about the shutdown after Speaker Pelosi said she wouldn’t agree to build a border wall, Senator Schumer told reporters on Wednesday.
Speaking with reporters, Schumer said, “Unfortunately, the president just got up and walked out. He asked Speaker Pelosi, ‘Will you agree to my wall?’ She said no. And he just got up and said, ‘Then we have nothing to discuss,’ and he just walked out.”
Schumer added that Trump slammed a table before walking away, calling the meeting a waste of time. “Again, we saw a temper tantrum because he couldn’t get his way and he just walked out.”
Speaking moments after the meeting, Vice President Mike Pence blamed the Democrats for the “impasse” over a budget agreement.
“This past week, the president and I, and these leaders, met on two separate occasions. All those in the room directed staff to spend the entire weekend working over proposals. At the president’s direction, we incorporated Democrat ideas and language and made an offer to resolve this impasse and address the crisis at our southern border.”
Pence continued, “In this brief meeting, we heard once again that Democratic leaders are unwilling to even negotiate to resolve this partial government shutdown.”
Congressional leaders were meeting with the president just hours after he gave an address to the nation in prime-time where he laid out his argument for a wall. Among his points, he focused on security and violence, asking “How much more American blood must we shed before Congress does its job?”
We are in the 18th day of the partial shutdown.
