Trump Cancels Government Shutdown Talks in Ludicrous and Lie-Filled Rant Against 'Radical Left'

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday abruptly canceled talks that had been scheduled with Democratic congressional leaders on funding the federal government and averting a shutdown.

In a lengthy, falsehood-filled rant on his Truth Social platform, Trump falsely accused House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) of making several unreasonable demands as part of the negotiations, including a completely fictitious policy of creating "transgender operations for everybody."

"After reviewing the details of the unserious and ridiculous demands being made by the Minority Radical Left Democrats in return for their Votes to keep our thriving Country open," Trump began, "I have decided that no meeting with their Congressional Leaders could possibly be productive."

The president then listed demands that he falsely accused Democrats of making, including "$1 trillion in new spending to continue free healthcare for illegal aliens," as well as policies to "have dead people on the Medicaid roles," to "allow illegal alien criminals to steal billions of dollars in American taxpayer benefits," and to "essentially create Transgender operations for everybody."

Congressional Democrats are not making any such demands.

Rather, Democrats' primary demand is a renewal of enhanced subsidies for Americans who buy health insurance through Affordable Care Act (ACA) exchanges. According to recently release research from KFF, people who buy insurance through the ACA are set to see their premiums rise by over 75% unless Congress steps in and renews the subsidies, which were first passed into law under the American Rescue Plan in 2021.

In response to Trump's Truth Social rant, Jeffries accused the president of "chickening out" of meeting with him and Schumer.

"Donald Trump just cancelled a high stakes meeting in the Oval Office with myself and Leader Schumer," he wrote in a social media post. "The extremists want to shut down the government because they are unwilling to address the Republican healthcare crisis that is devastating America."

Schumer issued an even shorter rebuttal and said, "When you're finished ranting, we can sit down and discuss healthcare."

On the same day that Trump canceled talks with Democrats, Public Citizen published an editorial memo outlining why finding a solution on Americans' health insurance premiums was so crucial, especially in the wake of the GOP's One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which slashed spending on Medicaid by an estimated $1 trillion over the next decade.

"As we approach open enrollment season, insurers are requesting their largest premium increases in years due to the GOP budget law," Public Citizen explained. "On average, premiums will increase by 75 percent for the nearly 25 million Affordable Care Act enrollees, with millions of Americans facing even higher increases. Americans want their representatives in Congress to fight against healthcare cost increases."

The federal government is set to shut down in one week if no funding deal is reached. Republicans will need some Democratic votes to pass the spending proposal in the Senate, and progressive lawmakers and advocates have urged Schumer and Jeffries to demand concessions on healthcare spending from the GOP.