President Trump slammed the Democratic congressional leaders who canceled a scheduled meeting with him and Republican leaders on Tuesday amid tax reform talks and a North Korean ballistic missile test.
“[Senate Minority Leader] Chuck Schumer and [House Minority Leader] Nancy Pelosi did not show up for our meeting today,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday. “I’m not really that surprised. We have a lot of differences.”
Trump tweeted earlier Tuesday that he did not see the potential to reach a deal with Democratic lawmakers on a bill to keep the government open past Dec. 8 due to the Democrats’ stance on immigration.
“They want the illegal folks to come pouring into our border,” Trump said of the New York senator and California representative ahead of the meeting on Tuesday, which went forward with House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., as scheduled.
“Before this meeting and before this missile launch, they’ve been weak on military,” Trump said of the Democratic leaders. “The military is always secondary to them.”
“They want tax increases and we want major tax decreases. So they decided not to show up,” Trump added. “They’ve been all talk and no action.”
Ryan lamented the absence of his Democratic counterpart on Tuesday, which was supposed to give congressional leaders an opportunity to discuss their differences on the range of time-sensitive legislative issues facing Congress next month.
“I think it’s very regrettable that our Democratic colleagues didn’t join us today,” Ryan said. “I just hope that our friends in leadership across the aisle will choose to participate.”
McConnell added his own scolding of Democrats by saying they need to “learn how the government works.”
“I’ve been in this position under a couple of previous presidents. I can’t recall ever turning down an opportunity to go down to the White House,” he said. “As the speaker mentioned, only one person in America can sign a bill into law, and that’s the president of the United States.”
“You cannot negotiate the year-end omnibus spending bill without the person who signs the bill in the room. So, I think the Democratic leaders in the House and Senate need to understand the way the government works.”
