The top two Democrats on Capitol Hill will join President Donald Trump for dinner Wednesday night at the White House, the latest in a series of overtures Trump has made to Democrats in the last week.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi are expected to discuss protections for young undocumented immigrants brought to the US as children, stabilizing the health care markets and other legislative deadlines that will quickly creep up on Capitol Hill this fall, two people familiar with the plans told CNN.
One person familiar with the planning said the dinner was set up at Trump’s request.
White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters confirmed the dinner plans.
The meeting comes a week after Trump agreed to a Democrat-crafted plan to push back the debt ceiling deadline for three months, siding with Schumer and Pelosi over the objections of his Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and Republican congressional leaders .
The Trump administration last week also formally announced the end of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, also known as DACA — a program that had protected nearly 800,000 young undocumented immigrants brought to the US as children from deportation. But the President is looking to Congress to work on a legislative solution.
“I have a great heart for these folks we’re talking about. A great love for them and people think in terms of children but they’re really young adults. I have a love for these people and hopefully now Congress will be able to help them and do it properly,” he said ahead of a meeting last week on tax reform.
