President Trump on Sunday accused Democratic leaders of stymieing the efforts of their congressional negotiators to reach a budget deal and avert another government shutdown.

“I don’t think the Dems on the Border Committee are being allowed by their leaders to make a deal. They are offering very little money for the desperately needed Border Wall & now, out of the blue, want a cap on convicted violent felons to be held in detention!” Trump tweeted Sunday.

[Read: Spending talks collapse over demand by Democrats to curb ICE detentions]



I don’t think the Dems on the Border Committee are being allowed by their leaders to make a deal. They are offering very little money for the desperately needed Border Wall & now, out of the blue, want a cap on convicted violent felons to be held in detention! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 10, 2019



A group of Republican and Democratic lawmakers has been working to reach consensus on a bipartisan border deal before Friday, when funding for a slew of federal agencies will run out. Trump has threatened to declare a national emergency to bypass Congress and build a wall along the southern border if lawmakers fail to reach a deal on border security.

The president wants Congress to allocate $5.7 billion for a wall, but congressional negotiators have been discussing a deal that would include between $1.3 billion and $2 billion.

Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney invited a group of lawmakers to Camp David for talks this weekend, but Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby, R-Ala., the chief Republican negotiator, said during an interview on “Fox News Sunday" that the negotiations have stalled.

“I’m not confident we’re going to get there,” he said, predicting there is a “50-50” chance a deal is reached.

In addition to money for the wall, lawmakers have also reached an impasse over the number of immigrant detention beds for Immigration and Customs Enforcement to use, which Democrats want to limit. In order for an illegal immigrant to be detained there must be a bed for them, and a cap on beds would limit the number of detentions.

Trump accused Democrats of deliberately hampering the negotiations to shut down the government again as part of an effort to change the news cycle.

“It was a very bad week for the Democrats, with the GREAT economic numbers, The Virginia disaster and the State of the Union address. Now, with the terrible offers being made by them to the Border Committee, I actually believe they want a Shutdown. They want a new subject!” he said in a subsequent tweet.



It was a very bad week for the Democrats, with the GREAT economic numbers, The Virginia disaster and the State of the Union address. Now, with the terrible offers being made by them to the Border Committee, I actually believe they want a Shutdown. They want a new subject! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 10, 2019



Virginia’s Democratic governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general have all been embroiled in scandal over the past two weeks.

Gov. Ralph Northam is facing calls to resign after a photo from his 1984 medical school yearbook page was published, showing one person in blackface and another in a Ku Klux Klan hood. Northam said he is not in the photo, but admitted to wearing blackface on one occasion when he dressed up as Michael Jackson.

Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, meanwhile, was accused by two women of sexual assault. He has denied the allegations.

Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring admitted to wearing blackface during a college party in 1980 where he dressed up as a rapper.