Trump rejects meeting with Democrats on avoiding shutdown until they drop ‘ridiculous’ demands

President Trump said Tuesday he will not meet with Democratic leaders to discuss how to avert a government shutdown unless they get “realistic” and drop their “unserious and ridiculous” demands.

“We must keep the Government open, and legislate like true Patriots rather than hold American Citizens hostage,” Mr. Trump posted on social media, saying Democrats “want our now thriving Country closed.”

The president’s post came just a few hours after Senate and House Democratic leaders Charles E. Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries of New York announced that Mr. Trump “agreed to meet this week in the Oval Office.”

“In the meeting, we will emphasize the importance of addressing rising costs, including the Republican healthcare crisis,” they said. “It’s past time to meet and work to avoid a Republican-caused shutdown.”

After Mr. Trump reversed course, Mr. Schumer slammed Mr. Trump for “running away from the negotiating table before he even gets there.” Mr. Jeffries accused the president of being “afraid to meet.”

Democrats want to roll back Medicaid cuts Republicans enacted in the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB), extend pandemic-era expansions of Obamacare premium subsidies and put guardrails on Mr. Trump’s ability to freeze funding Congress appropriates in exchange for voting for a stopgap spending bill to keep the government open into the new fiscal year that begins Oct. 1.

The House approved a GOP plan last week, but the Senate failed to pass that, as well as a competing Democratic proposal.

“I have decided that no meeting with their Congressional Leaders could possibly be productive,” Mr. Trump wrote in his social media post rejecting the meeting.

“They are threatening to shut down the Government of the United States unless they can have over $1 Trillion Dollars in new spending to continue free healthcare for Illegal Aliens (A monumental cost!), force Taxpayers to fund Transgender surgery for minors, have dead people on the Medicaid roles, allow Illegal Alien Criminals to steal Billions of Dollars in American Taxpayer Benefits, try to force our Country to again open our Borders to Criminals and to the World, allow men to play in women’s sports, and essentially create Transgender operations for everybody,” he said.

The GOP-enacted Medicaid cuts that Democrats want to reverse would prevent illegal immigrants from receiving government-funded health care coverage and stop any Medicaid dollars from paying for gender transition procedures.

The Democrats proposed repealing the entire health care section of the OBBB, which would also eliminate a $50 million fund to help rural hospitals and health care providers that would face revenue losses from the Medicaid cuts in the bill. Mr. Trump called that provision “popular.”

But Democrats’ demands for the stopgap spending bill have nothing to do with opening borders or allowing biological men to play in women’s sports, as Mr. Trump claimed in his post.

“While Americans face rising costs and a Republican health care crisis, Trump would rather throw a tantrum than do his job,” Mr. Schumer said. “Democrats are ready to work to avoid a shutdown — Trump and Republicans are holding America hostage. Donald Trump will own the shutdown.”

The president accused Democrats of pushing radical-left policies that voters rejected in the 2024 election in which he won the White House and Republicans won control of both chambers of Congress.

“There are consequences to losing Elections but, based on their letter to me, the Democrats haven’t figured that out yet,” he said.

Mr. Trump said he would be happy to meet with Democrats if they “get serious” and drop their left-wing demands.

“To the Leaders of the Democrat Party, the ball is in your court,” he said. “I look forward to meeting with you when you become realistic about the things that our Country stands for. DO THE RIGHT THING!”

The president warned that if Democrats don’t do their job and keep the government open, “it will just be another long and brutal slog through their radicalized quicksand.”