WASHINGTON _ A day after calling for a bipartisan compromise to resolve the partial government shutdown, President Donald Trump stormed out of a White House negotiating session after Democratic leaders flatly refused to agree to his demand for taxpayer funds for a southern border wall.
"Just left a meeting with Chuck and Nancy, a total waste of time," Trump tweeted afterward. He said he asked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer if they would agree to end the shutdown, now in its 19th day, in return for funds for a wall or steel barrier.
"Nancy said, NO. I said bye-bye, nothing else works!" the president tweeted.
Democratic leaders accused the president of throwing a temper tantrum.
"The president slammed the table, asked Speaker Pelosi if she would support his wall and when she said no, he walked out and said 'We have nothing to talk about,'" Schumer said. "He didn't get his way and he just walked out of the meeting."
Pelosi said a wall will not resolve the problems currently experienced at the border. "What Trump is claiming to be the situation at the border is not solved by a wall," she said.
Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California, the Republican minority leader, said talks have been complicated because of Democrats' hard-line stance.
"It is a real challenge when the Democrats won't even give an offer back, won't even do anything," he said.
