For the first time since the 2018-midterm elections, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi met with President Trump at the White House Tuesday.
Their meeting was originally supposed to be closed press, but that all changed when the White House press pool was invited into the Oval Office to broadcast their remarks.
President Trump started the meeting by thanking Pelosi and Schumer for showing up and made his case for additional border security.
"I am proud to shut down the government over border security," Trump said. "I will take the mantle."
"They're pouring into our country. We have to have border security. We have to have a wall," he continued.
After some back and forth with the Democrat leaders, Pelosi started to panic and said they should not continue in front of the press.
"I don't think we should have a debate in front of the press on this," Pelosi said.
"It's called transparency Nancy," Trump shot back.
President Trump engages in an Oval Office clash with Democratic leaders Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi over border security as the shutdown deadline looms
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) December 11, 2018
Pelosi: "I don't think we should have a debate in front of the press on this" pic.twitter.com/gopvtJKpXO
President Trump then continued, leading Schumer to later argue the same.
"Let's debate, let's debate in private," he pleaded. "We shouldn't shut down the government over a dispute, and you want to shut it down."
"Let's debate in private": President Trump, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Rep. Nancy Pelosi just sparred in the Oval Office on live TV about border security and funding Trump's wall https://t.co/uiiZgARky5 pic.twitter.com/EJBynT3NkR
— CBS News (@CBSNews) December 11, 2018
Here is the full exchange:
WATCH: Full video of heated Oval Office meeting between President Trump and Democratic leaders Schumer and Pelosi over border security and a potential government shutdown https://t.co/agvypq00l2 pic.twitter.com/kdDLeeZ0R1
— CNBC Now (@CNBCnow) December 11, 2018
After the meeting, Pelosi and Schumer ran to the cameras outside of the West Wing and further slammed President Trump's position.
"He will get no wall and he will get a shutdown," Schumer said. "This temper tantrum that he seems to throw will not get him his wall."
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