Washington (CNN) President Donald Trump argued Friday that Democrats have stood in the way of DACA recipients gaining permanent legal status, while casting Republicans as would-be saviors.

"The Republicans are with you, they want to get your situation taken care of," Trump said at the White House, as he complained about the $1.3 trillion spending bill program, speaking directly to recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. "The Democrats fought us, they just fought every single inch of the way. They did not want DACA in this bill."

But as Congress left town increasingly unlikely to pass any major immigration legislation before November's midterms, the White House has repeatedly rejected deals to fix DACA, the Obama-era policy he ended then implored Congress to save.

Here's a timeline of DACA under Trump:

September 5, 2017 : Trump announced an end to the DACA program, which protected young undocumented immigrants who came to the US as children from deportation. President Barack Obama instituted the work permits and protections in 2012.