Trump, Dem leaders halt their deal-making

WASHINGTON — Less than two weeks before much of the government runs out of money, President Donald Trump on Tuesday escalated the threat of a shutdown, accusing Democratic congressional leaders of plotting to use their leverage to raise taxes and flood the country with unauthorized immigrants.

The Democratic leaders, Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York and Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, responded to the president’s provocations by pulling out of a scheduled White House meeting that was supposed to address the thorny issues that lawmakers are facing as the end of the year approaches. Trump then doubled down, posing for television cameras at the White House next to empty chairs.

“They’ve been all talk, and they’ve been no action, and now it’s even worse,” Trump said. “Now it’s not even talk.”

The spectacle was an unpromising start to the difficult negotiations ahead, with a deadline of Dec. 8, when government funding runs out. Democrats hold significant leverage because Republicans do not have enough votes to pass a spending measure next week without Democratic support. Pelosi and Schumer hope to use the yearend negotiations to help unauthorized immigrants brought to the country as children and to provide financing for the Children’s Health Insurance Program, whose funding lapsed at the end of September.

But the war of words in public did little to secure the Democratic support Trump and Republican leaders will ultimately need.