Sarah Sanders to Dems ahead of Trump meeting: ‘Come to the table and work with us’

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Wednesday said that Democrats must be willing to put forward a fresh proposal to end a prolonged partial government shutdown as President Trump prepares for another round of talks with House lawmakers.

“They were no-shows yesterday,” Sanders said of congressional Democrats in an appearance on “Fox & Friends.”

“Hopefully this meeting today can be somewhat different. But at the same time they’ve shown us they’re unwilling to negotiate in good faith,” she added.{mosads}

The president has sought to engage more moderate members of the House Democratic Caucus amid a stalemate with party leadership over border security, but no Democrats attended a Tuesday meeting at the White House after Trump invited members of the moderate Blue Dog Coalition.

Trump has a meeting scheduled Wednesday morning with the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus, though it’s unclear who in the group has agreed to attend.

“The president will negotiate but, at this point, he’s not going to negotiate with himself,” Sanders said. “He’s the only one that has a proposal on the table. Democrats have yet to put anything forward other than obstruction.”

“It’s time for them to come to the table and work with us,” she said, adding that Trump “is not going to back down.”

The Democratic-held House has passed a series of bills to reopen individual government agencies amid negotiations on border security, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has said the measures will not receive a vote in the Senate without Trump’s endorsement.

A bipartisan group of senators have held talks in recent days in search of an agreement to end the shutdown, which entered its 26th day on Wednesday. Negotiations have hit roadblock after roadblock, however, with few signs of progress.

Sanders said the White House would consider a proposal that comes out of the Senate, but emphasized it would need to address border security measures endorsed by Border Patrol agents.

Trump has demanded more than $5 billion in funding for his desired wall along the southern border, a request Democrats have staunchly refused.