President Donald Trump speaks during an event at the Kennedy Center on Aug. 13, 2025, in Washington. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
And there is a brewing tension between Republicans and Democrats over just how the looming government funding fight will shake out.
Trump, during a press conference where he announced a slate of Kennedy Center honorees, said he would meet with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., before the deadline.
"But it’s almost a waste of time to meet, because they never approve anything," Trump added.
"I don't believe anybody is capable of making a deal with these people," he continued. "They have gone crazy."
SCHUMER, DEMOCRATS TRY TO SAVE FACE, BLAME GOP FOR POSSIBLE GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN
Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Rep. Nancy Pelosi talk on the floor on Jan. 6, 2023. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
And congressional Democrats have a bitter taste left in their mouths after Republicans rammed through Trump’s $9 billion clawback package, which included deep cuts to NPR, PBS and foreign aid. They warned that any more attempts to claw back congressionally approved funding on a partisan basis could doom government funding negotiations.
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Ahead of the vote to pass three spending bills in the Senate, which included funding for military construction and Veterans Affairs, agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the legislative branch, congressional Democrats vowed that they would play ball – as long as the appropriations process was bipartisan.
"We all want to pursue a bipartisan, bicameral appropriations process," Schumer said at the time. "That's how it's always been done, successfully, and we believe that, however, the Republicans are making it extremely difficult to do that."
Earlier this year, Schumer briefly flirted with a government shutdown. However, he eventually relented and voted with Republicans to keep the lights on in Washington, and in the process ignited a firestorm within his own party over his ability as leader of the Senate Democratic caucus.
Alex Miller is a writer for Fox News Digital covering the U.S. Senate.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-predicts-little-progress-potential-shutdown-talks-crazy-schumer-jeffries