President Trump and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer can’t even agree on what happened in their Friday meeting, which was held to try to avert the partial government shutdown that began hours later.
Mr. Schumer says he offered to put Mr. Trump’s border wall “on the table” as part of the negotiations, but one of the president’s top aides said all Mr. Schumer was agreeing to was a tenth of the White House’s request.
“That’s the type of negotiation Mr. Schumer has been engaged in,” said Mick Mulvaney, the president’s budget director. He said Mr. Schumer is “going to have to up his game” to strike a deal.
The Democratic leader’s spokesman countered that Mr. Mulvaney got it wrong.
“Director Mulvaney was not in the lunch, and is not telling the truth. Period, full stop,” said Schumer spokesman Matt House.
Mr. Trump and Mr. Schumer were engaged in last-minute talks to try to strike a deal to keep the government open and to deal with immigration, combining legal status for illegal immigrant “Dreamers” with border security and changes to U.S. policy.
The White House says it’s open to a generous amnesty for Dreamers that goes beyond the 690,000 people currently protected by the Obama-era DACA deportation amnesty, but it wants concessions.
Mr. Schumer insists he offered the president’s full request for the border wall. Mr. Schumer also says he offered to give the Pentagon its full budget request as part of the Dreamer deal.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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