A meeting between President Donald Trump and Democratic leaders on Friday included so many expletives that Trump reportedly apologized to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

The contentious gathering comes amid a partial government shutdown, now stretching past its second week, after Trump stressed he would not sign any short-term funding bill that does not include funding for his proposed border wall.

Trump reportedly mentioned "f--k" during the meeting at least three times and sought to reframe the shutdown, which is affecting 800,000 federal employees, as a worker "strike."

A meeting between President Donald Trump and Democratic leaders on Friday included so many expletives that Trump later apologized to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, an official familiar with the incident told The Washington Post on Friday.

The meeting sought to break the impasse between Trump and Democratic leaders over funding for the president's proposed wall at the US-Mexico border.

The contentious gathering comes amid a partial government shutdown, now stretching past its second week, after Trump stressed he would not sign any short-term funding bill that did not include funding for his wall — despite a bipartisan group of House members passing two bills that would extend funding and buy Congress more time.

Trump reportedly mentioned "f--k" during the meeting at least three times, a source added in a Daily Beast report, and described the 800,000 federal employees who were working without pay as workers on "strike."

The president harangued Pelosi for comments made by recently-elected Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, in which she referred to Trump and said "impeach the motherf---er," according to The Daily Beast.

President Donald Trump speaks in the Rose Garden of the White House after a meeting with Congressional leaders on border security, January 4, 2019. Associated Press/Jacquelyn Martin

Democrats reportedly responded by suggesting Trump was using the government as his shield, and urged him to fund the government.

Trump said in the meeting he was not using the shutdown "for leverage," but added, "I'm not going to get a deal unless I do this," a source told The Post.

Following the meeting, Trump appeared optimistic during a press conference at the White House Rose Garden: "I thought it was really a very, very good meeting," Trump said. "We're all on the same path in terms of wanting to get government open."

Trump's comments were contrasted by the Democrats', who gave an ominous outlook for the shutdown: "We told the president we needed the government open. He resisted," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said.

"In fact he said he would keep it closed for a very long period of time — months or even years."