Pelosi and Schumer pull out of meeting with Trump after he says a spending deal is unlikely

Eliza Collins | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Top Democrats pull out of White House meeting Top Democratic leaders in Congress have abruptly pulled out of a planned meeting with President Donald Trump after he attacked them on Twitter. (Nov. 28)

WASHINGTON — 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 funding the government or immigration.

“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 of New York 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.

The meeting had been intended to cover a range of pressing deadlines facing Congress, including passing a spending bill to keep the government open beyond December 8, when current funding runs out. Democrats have been insisting that a funding bill include a long-term solution for undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children. Former President Obama had provided temporary deportation protection to these immigrants, but Trump has declared he is ending that program.

Tuesday morning, Trump tweeted that Schumer and Pelosi "want illegal immigrants flooding into our Country unchecked, are weak on Crime and want to substantially RAISE taxes. I don't see a deal!" That tweet prompted Schumer and Pelosi to scrap the meeting.

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

But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. and House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., attended the White House meeting and did not seem interested in talking to Pelosi and Schumer. McConnell's spokeswoman Antonia Ferrier told USA TODAY that Ryan and McConnell would not be meeting with the Democrats without Trump.

“I never refused to go to a meeting that president Obama called, a bipartisan meeting. It never occurred to me that I could just say to President Obama I’m not showing up," McConnell told reporters Tuesday afternoon. "That strikes me as a lack of seriousness about the matter before us, which is the funding of the federal government of the United States for the rest of this fiscal year.”

"Democrats are putting government operations, particularly resources for our men and women on the battlefield, at great risk by pulling these antics," McConnell and Ryan said in a statement Tuesday midday.

We have important work to do. There is a meeting at the White House this afternoon, and if Democrats want to reach an agreement on these issues, they will be there. https://t.co/lvmvzPLAGF pic.twitter.com/9XhzjrLuKv — Paul Ryan (@SpeakerRyan) November 28, 2017

Trump, Ryan and McConnell sat together in the Cabinet Room for a photo opportunity with two empty chairs labeled for Pelosi and Schumer.

Trump said he expected the Democrats to reverse course and ask to meet with him in the wake of North Korea's launch of a ballistic missile, because the launch underscores the importance of funding the U.S. military.

"In light of the missile launch they will be here fairly quickly," Trump predicted.

Later Tuesday night, he tweeted: "After North Korea missile launch, it's more important than ever to fund our gov't & military! Dems shouldn't hold troop funding hostage for amnesty & illegal immigration. I ran on stopping illegal immigration and won big. They can't now threaten a shutdown to get their demands."

After North Korea missile launch, it's more important than ever to fund our gov't & military! Dems shouldn't hold troop funding hostage for amnesty & illegal immigration. I ran on stopping illegal immigration and won big. They can't now threaten a shutdown to get their demands. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 29, 2017

White House officials were sensitive over Tuesday's meeting because of what happened in September: After a White House session, Schumer and Pelosi promptly announced they had reached a deal with Trump to protect those young immigrants.

Trump had to walk back that agreement somewhat after supporters objected to the deal with Schumer and Pelosi.

Democrats say there is a urgent need to get a fix for so-called DREAMers.

"We're not kicking the can down to March," when the program officially expires, Pelosi told reporters earlier this month.

Democrats are joined by a growing number of Republicans who are calling for an immigration deal — and soon.

On Tuesday, Florida Rep. Carlos Curbelo, a Republican, announced that he would not support won’t any budget deal unless it included protections for the nearly 800,000 undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children.

In early November, Curbelo joined more than a dozen House Republicans calling on their party’s leadership to bring up a bill, any bill, that would get bipartisan support and provide protections to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival recipients before the end of the year. GOP Rep. John Faso of New York said these immigrants were “as American as apple pie.”

In September, President Trump put an end to an Obama-era executive order that provided legal protections for DREAMers, giving Congress until March to come up with a solution before existing protections expire.

Curbelo said Tuesday that Republicans in conservative districts have sold their voters on the false claim that their economic troubles can be blamed on immigrants. And he said Democrats in liberal districts have sold their voters on the false claim that all Republicans are prejudiced against Hispanics.

“The truth is that there’s a political profit to be made off the issue of immigration on both sides,” Curbelo said. “The challenge here is, can we get enough people to leave the political profit on the table and do the right thing for the country?”

Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, the Senate Majority Whip, said that GOP leadership is in discussions with Schumer and Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, who has been a leading voice on DREAMer protections but that whatever was decided should be separate from year-end spending bills.

"I think the solution is fairly obvious. It’s important that we get it done," Cornyn told reporters Tuesday. "I told Sen. Durbin yesterday that we could do it anytime he was ready to sit down and negotiate. We could do it before the end of the year, we could do it after the first of the year."

“I don’t think the threat of shutting down the government just because you’re not getting something you want is a good idea. We need to keep working together," Cornyn said.

Ryan has not been in a hurry to bring immigration legislation to the House floor. Earlier this month he told reporters was no need to create “artificial deadlines” to pass an immigration bill.

“I think it should be considered separately on its own merits number one. Number two, we have until, I believe, March is the deadline we have from the president," he said.

Alan Gomez contributed reporting from Miami, David Jackson and Deirdre Shesgreen contributed from Washington.