Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer listens as President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol on March 4, 2025.

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump pulled out of an expected meeting with top Democrats in Congress to avoid a government shutdown, calling their demands "unserious and ridiculous."

"I have decided that no meeting with their Congressional Leaders could possibly be productive," he wrote in a Sept. 23 social media post.

The president was slated to sit down with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on Thursday, Sept. 25, to negotiate over the budget impasse. Last week, members of Congress failed to advance any short-term funding extensions before a holiday break. Government funding lapses at midnight on Sept. 30.

The major sticking points are related to health care: Democrats have said they won't vote to fund the government unless Republicans address rising health care costs, including by reversing recent Medicaid cuts and extending Obamacare premium subsidies.

A stopgap funding measure proposed by Democrats also would've restored funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and created safeguards to prevent the White House from withholding money appropriated by Congress. That bill failed in the Senate.

"All Congressional Democrats want to do is enact Radical Left Policies that nobody voted for," Trump wrote.

The Democratic leaders spared no criticsm of the president after he bailed on them.

"When you’re finished ranting, we can sit down and discuss health care," Schumer wrote on X. "Trump Always Chickens Out," added Jeffries.

Zachary Schermele is a congressional reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach him by email at zschermele@usatoday.com. Follow him on X at @ZachSchermele and Bluesky at @zachschermele.bsky.social.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump bails on meeting with Democrats to avoid shutdown

Reporting by Zachary Schermele, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect