President Donald Trump shut down a backroom deal with Senate Democrats Saturday night, nuking hours of negotiations over his pending nominees.
Talks to confirm up to 60 of Trump’s picks collapsed after Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) demanded over $1 billion in exchange for Democrat support.
“Tell Schumer, who is under tremendous political pressure from within his own party, the Radical Left Lunatics, to GO TO HELL!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
He said the demand was “egregious and unprecedented” and blasted it as “political extortion.”
Trump ordered GOP senators to walk away. “Do not accept the offer,” he said. “Go home and explain to your constituents what bad people the Democrats are.”
The White House was closely monitoring the talks before Trump personally pulled the plug. “Have a great RECESS and, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!” he added.
Before the collapse, both sides thought they were close to a deal. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) said there were “lots of offers” exchanged between him and Schumer, as Fox News reported.
“There were several different times where I think either or both sides maybe thought there was a deal in the end,” Thune said.
Democrats wanted the White House