Congressional Democratic leaders rail against Trump's 'unhinged' rejection of meeting over shutdown

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on Tuesday slammed President Donald Trump for rejecting a proposed meeting with congressional Democratic leaders as the United States government hurdles toward a shutdown.

Trump earlier in the day posted on Truth Social that he did not believe a meeting with Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer would prove beneficial, even though the government could be shut down as early as next week. 

The president stated that the two party leaders made "unserious and ridiculous demands" in hopes of keeping the government open, including wanting more than $1 trillion in funds for illegal migrant health care, taxpayer-funded transgender surgeries for minors, and other projects.

"The statement that Donald Trump issued today was unhinged, and it related to issues that have nothing to do with the spending bill that is before the Congress, and the need to try to avoid a government shutdown," Jeffries said in a news briefing. 

"Schumer and I are ready to meet with anyone, anytime, at any place, to discuss the issues that matter to the American people and avoid a painful, Republican-caused government shutdown," he also said. "Democrats do not support the partisan Republican spending bill because it continues to gut the healthcare of the American people."

Schumer told Trump to "stop ranting" and "do [his] job" and urged the president to meet with them to "hammer out a deal."

The comments come after Trump previously indicated that he was open to meeting with the leaders and a meeting was reportedly in the works for later this week in Washington, D.C. It was not clear if House Speaker Mike Johnson or Senate Majority Leader John Thune would have been at the meeting.

The House passed a short-term stopgap funding measure last week, but the Senate failed to follow suit. The measure would have kept the government funded through Nov. 21.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.