Dems claim Trump walked away from deal with Schumer

Senate Democrats emerged from a closed-door caucus meeting Friday evening asserting that President Trump and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) were close to a funding deal but the president backed away from it.

“There was virtually a deal, a comprehensive agreement, between Chuck Schumer and the president, and he walked away from it after he talked to his hard right,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.).

Blumenthal added that the near completion of the deal, and the setback, both occurred on Friday.

A Senate aide confirmed Blumenthal’s comments. Schumer is expected to lay out the details of the potential agreement, and his discussions with the president, from the Senate floor Friday night.

The setback comes as Congress is barreling toward a shutdown, with no plan in sight that could prevent the government from closing.

The House-passed bill to fund the government through mid-February has failed to get the 60 votes needed to overcome a procedural hurdle.

The unraveling of a potential agreement between Schumer and Trump is a dramatic development from Friday afternoon, when Schumer, after speaking with the president, went to the White House to talk about the looming shutdown.

The move sparked a wave of anxiety among Republicans, as Trump had sided with Democrats during a September funding discussion.

Trump said in a tweet after the meeting that they had an “excellent” discussion, while Schumer said they had made progress but still had divisions.

But that appeared to change by Friday evening. Trump tweeted, during the middle of the Democratic caucus meeting, that “Dems want a Shutdown in order to help diminish the great success of the Tax Cuts, and what they are doing for our booming economy.”

Sen. Christopher Coons (D-Del.) said the two men had talked throughout Friday and that Democrats had “tried very hard to reach a responsible compromise.”

“I’m still hoping that the progress Leader Schumer made in his conversations today with President Trump would produce a different outcome, but there is very little time left,” Coons said.

Unless Congress is able to get to an agreement by midnight, a government shutdown will begin.