President Donald Trump on Friday said he had an “[e]xcellent preliminary meeting” with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to discuss the impending government shutdown. He also voiced his preference for four-week continuing resolution to fund the government, though members of both parties, especially Democrats, have resisted that time frame.
Excellent preliminary meeting in Oval with @SenSchumer – working on solutions for Security and our great Military together with @SenateMajLdr McConnell and @SpeakerRyan. Making progress – four week extension would be best!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 19, 2018
Trump’s assessment of the discussion came two-and-a-half hours after Schumer’s. The Senate minority leader told reporters after leaving the meeting that “We made some progress, but we still have a good number of disagreements.”
Schumer added: “The discussions will continue.”
Democrats — and some Republicans — have mostly held their ground in demanding that a spending bill provide legal protections for young undocumented immigrants.
Trump abruptly ended the DACA program, which protects qualified undocumented immigrants from deportation, on Sept. 5.
A new Washington Post-ABC News poll released Friday found that far more respondents would blame Trump and congressional Republicans for a government shutdown than Democrats. A Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday reflected similar sentiments.