Rep. Elijah Cummings' office denied canceling a meeting with President Donald Trump. | M.Scott Mahaskey/POLITICO Cummings' office denies canceling meeting with Trump

President Donald Trump said a planned meeting with Rep. Elijah Cummings has been called off because of partisan politics — but the prominent Congressional Black Caucus member and top Democrat on the House oversight panel denied it.

“He was probably told, ‘Don’t meet with Trump, it’s bad politics,’ and that’s part of the problem in this country,” Trump said during a marathon press conference at the White House. He also guessed that prominent Democrats like Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer had pressured him into bailing.


Cummings quickly disputed that characterization.

“I have no idea why President Trump would make up a story about me like he did today," Cummings said in a statement. "Of course, Senator Schumer never told me to skip a meeting with the President. I was actually looking forward to meeting with the President about the skyrocketing price of prescription drugs."

Cummings told POLITICO last week that he intended to meet with Trump to discuss drug prices. And he later told reporters he intended to raise the issue of voter suppression in minority communities. But the meeting was never officially scheduled.

In the interim, Cummings has also called for several inquiries into reports about Trump associates' ties to Russia, as well as a potential ethical breach by his senior counselor, Kellyanne Conway, for hawking Ivanka Trump's apparel line on television.

Trump said his office tried repeatedly to plan the meeting without success. “We called, called, called, called,” he said.

Cummings told reporters at the Capitol that any characterization he stopped returning the White House's calls is inaccurate. He said that he and Trump are both busy but that he hoped they could still find an opportunity to meet.