President, top four congressional leaders to talk as shutdown looms

President Trump plans to meet with the top four congressional leaders at the White House on Monday to talk as shutdown looms

- BY SEUNG MIN KIM AND LISA MASCARO

PRESIDENT TRUMP walks with Air Force Col. Christopher M. Robinson at Joint Base Andrews, Md.

(LUIS M. ALVAREZ Associated Press)

President Trump plans to meet with the top four congressional leaders at the White House on Monday, one day before the deadline to fund the federal government or face a shutdown.

The meeting involving the top Republican leaders, House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, as well as the Democratic leaders, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, was confirmed Saturday by a White House official and two other people familiar with the planning. They were granted anonymity to discuss a meeting that has not been announced.

Trump relented after initially refusing to meet with the top Democrats.

"President Trump has once again agreed to a meeting in the Oval Office. As we have repeatedly said, Democrats will meet anywhere, at any time and with anyone to negotiate a bipartisan spending agreement that meets the needs of the American people," Schumer and Jeffries, both of New York, said in a joint statement Saturday night. "We are resolute in our determination to avoid a government shutdown and address the Republican healthcare crisis. Time is running out."