Trump To Meet Congressional Leaders As Shutdown Deadline Approaches

President Donald Trump will sit down with congressional leaders from both parties on Monday, as the threat of a government shutdown draws closer, a White House official told Fox News.

The meeting follows Trump’s decision last week to cancel a session with Democrats, saying they had made “unserious and ridiculous demands.”

Originally, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., were set to meet with the president on Thursday to try to prevent a partial shutdown ahead of the Sept. 30 deadline.

Now, Schumer and Jeffries are scheduled to meet with Trump alongside House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D.

On Saturday, Schumer and Jeffries released a joint statement about the new meeting.

“President Trump has once again agreed to a meeting in the Oval Office,” the statement said. “As we have repeatedly said, Democrats will meet anywhere, at any time and with anyone to negotiate a bipartisan spending agreement that meets the needs of the American people. We are resolute in our determination to avoid a government shutdown and address the Republican healthcare crisis. Time is running out.”

The Senate is due to reconvene on Sept. 29 after the Jewish New Year, while the House will remain in recess until the funding deadline arrives.

In a post on Truth Social last week, Trump went after Schumer and Jeffries, accusing them of pushing “radical Left policies that nobody voted for.”

“I have decided that no meeting with their Congressional Leaders could possibly be productive,” he said at the time.

The canceled meeting followed a letter Schumer and Jeffries had sent the previous weekend, blaming Trump and Republicans for risking a shutdown.

They criticized the Trump-backed short-term extension as “dirty,” arguing that it contained partisan policy riders and spending measures. They said it continued “the Republican assault on healthcare,” failed to extend Affordable Care Act (ACA) premium subsidies, and could result in hospital closures nationwide.

“With the September 30th deadline fast approaching, Republicans will bear responsibility for another painful government shutdown because of the refusal of GOP congressional leadership to even talk with Democrats,” they wrote.

Trump countered by saying their plan would undo nearly $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts from his “Big, Beautiful Bill,” while also scrapping a $50 billion rural hospital fund he championed.

“We must keep the Government open, and legislate like true Patriots rather than hold American Citizens hostage, knowing that they want our now thriving Country closed,” Trump said.

“I’ll be happy to meet with them if they agree to the Principles in this Letter,” he added. “They must do their job! Otherwise, it will just be another long and brutal slog through their radicalized quicksand. To the Leaders of the Democrat Party, the ball is in your court. I look forward to meeting with you when you become realistic about the things that our Country stands for. DO THE RIGHT THING!”

If no agreement is reached, the government will shut down at 12:01 a.m. ET on Wednesday.