President Donald Trump met with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Thursday — a rare one-on-one meeting between the two native New Yorkers.
The two have shadow-boxed repeatedly over the past year, including on a failed nominations deal and a historic government shutdown, but have had virtually no personal interaction.
Trump, according to a statement from Schumer’s office, called the meeting to talk about the Gateway tunnel project, which the administration said late last year would not be funded because of the shutdown.
But the Senate leader also used the sit-down to raise two unrelated issues — health care and the administration’s decision to deploy ICE around the country to carry out mass deportations.
“Schumer also told President Trump that their actions are dangerous and putting more people at risk and he must pull back ICE from U.S. cities,” the statement said.
Schumer’s decision to raise recently expired Affordable Care Act subsidies comes as the bipartisan health care negotiations in the Senate struggle. The group is discussing a two-year extension of the enhanced subsidies with new restrictions paired with broader health care changes in the second year.
But Schumer told Trump to “push Senate Republicans to support the 3-year extension of the ACA tax credit bill that has already passed the House.” Democrats forced a Senate vote on a three-year extension last year, but it failed to advance.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the meeting.
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