Speaker-designate Nancy Pelosi (D Calif.) believes that she respects the office President Trump Donald John TrumpBarr criticizes DOJ in speech declaring all agency power 'is invested in the attorney general' Military leaders asked about using heat ray on protesters outside White House: report Powell warns failure to reach COVID-19 deal could 'scar and damage' economy MORE "holds and the agencies of government that he appoints to" more than he does.

“I respect the office that he holds and the agencies of government that he appoints to — I think I respect them more than he does, looking at who he has appointed to those offices,” she told The Washington Post in an interview published on Wednesday.

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Her comments come as she prepares to be named House Speaker for the second time in her political career. House Democrats are also set to take a majority in the lower chamber on Thursday.

She spoke with The Post about a variety of topics, including her efforts to reach a deal with Trump that would end the partial government shutdown that began on Dec. 22. The sticking point is President Trump's demand for $5 billion in funding for a wall on the Mexican border.

Pelosi said that negotiations between Democrats and Republicans "have to stipulate to a set of facts" if the shutdown is to end.

"But [Trump] simply won’t do it," she said. "What he talks about with the wall isn’t true. It isn’t true about terrorists coming over the wall, people with illnesses flooding the country. I mean, really?”

Pelosi is a key figure in negotiations about a new spending bill. In December, she and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer Chuck SchumerDemocrats scramble on COVID-19 relief amid division, Trump surprise Pelosi, Schumer 'encouraged' by Trump call for bigger coronavirus relief package Schumer, Sanders call for Senate panel to address election security MORE (D-N.Y.) got into a heated exchange with Trump at the White House in which Trump said he would shut down the government over his wall demand.

She was also one of the congressional leaders to meet with Trump at the White House on Wednesday in an effort to reach an agreement on a spending bill. Pelosi said afterwards that Democrats were giving Trump a "Republican path" to re-open the government.

The negotiations between Pelosi and the White House will continue while she is speaker.

Pelosi said to The Post that she has a desire to work with Trump on issues of mutual interest, saying that that she would “extend the hand of friendship."

She also said that Democrats were "about dignity" and that they would be "respectful of the offices that we hold, and the office [Trump] holds."

But Pelosi also criticized the president's character, saying that he has a “disrespect for the dignity and worth of a person.”