--- title: President Trump Walked Out of a Meeting With Top Democrats description: President Donald Trump walked out of a meeting with top Democrats over the partial government shutdown. canonical: https://time.com/5498428/donald-trump-pelosi-schumer-meeting/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-01-09T21:03:24.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-13T08:19:33.594Z article:section: Politics og:title: 'I Said Bye-Bye.' President Trump Walked Out of a Meeting With Top Democrats og:description: He called it 'a waste of time' og:url: https://time.com/5498428/donald-trump-pelosi-schumer-meeting/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1c0634a834409853/698942f6db2987bda92619bf/pelosi-schumer.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: pelosi-schumer og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'I Said Bye-Bye.' President Trump Walked Out of a Meeting With Top Democrats twitter:description: He called it 'a waste of time' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1c0634a834409853/698942f6db2987bda92619bf/pelosi-schumer.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 'I Said Bye-Bye.' President Trump Walked Out of a Meeting With Top Democrats > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=aeda9b3b-5451-44d8-b465-388cc8203824&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Senator Schumer and Vice President Mike Pence Speak After President Trump Walks Out of Meeting Over Shutdown [Watch (HLS stream): Senator Schumer and Vice President Mike Pence Speak After President Trump Walks Out of Meeting Over Shutdown](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/foF6XFQt.m3u8) (2:09)  _Published 2019-01-09. President Donald Trump walked out of a meeting with top Democratic lawmakers over the partial government shutdown Wednesday, saying that it was “a total waste of time.”_ by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Jan 9, 2019 9:03 PM UTC President Donald Trump walked out of a meeting with top Democratic lawmakers over the partial government shutdown Wednesday, saying that it was “a total waste of time.” by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Jan 9, 2019 9:03 PM UTC President Donald Trump walked out of a meeting with top Democratic lawmakers over the [partial government shutdown](http://time.com/5496179/mike-pence-donald-trump-border-wall-proposal-shutdown-democrats/) Wednesday, saying that it was “a total waste of time.” One day after saying the shutdown could be resolved with a [“45-minute meeting,”](http://time.com/5497569/donald-trump-oval-office-address-transcript/) Trump sat down with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer in the White House Situation Room. But after a half hour, he walked out, tweeting that he “said bye-bye” after Pelosi said she would not approve a border security measure if it includes a wall on the U.S. border with Mexico. > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1083099784012091396) Speaking shortly after the meeting, Pelosi and Schumer criticized Trump’s behavior at the meeting. “Unfortunately, the President just got up and walked out,” Schumer told reporters. “He asked Speaker Pelosi if she would fund his wall and she said ‘no’ and he said, ‘Well then, we have nothing to talk about.’ And got up and walked out.” Vice President Mike Pence said Trump “called the question” during the meeting, using the legislative term for putting an issue up for a vote. “When she said no, the President said goodbye,” he said. Rep. Kevin McCarthy, the House Minority Leader, disputed Schumer and Pelosi’s version of events, saying that Trump offered everyone candy and turned the floor over to the two Democrats, whom he said offered nothing. “The President then turned to the Speaker and politely asked her, OK, Nancy if we open the government up in 30 days, could we have border security. She raised her hand and said, ‘No, not at all,'” he said. McCarthy said the Democratic lawmakers’ behavior “is embarrassing to me,” and argued that their version of events was “disturbing.” He called on them to “get back into the room” to negotiate. ## Transcript [00:00] Well unfortunately, the President just got up and [00:02] walked out. He asked Speaker Pelosi, [00:06] will you agree to my wall? She said no, and he just got [00:10] up and said, then we have nothing to discuss, and he [00:13] just walked out. Again, we saw a temper tantrum, [00:17] because he couldn't get his way, and he just walked [00:20] out of the meeting. I asked him to open [00:24] up the government. That tomorrow, so many people [00:27] will have trouble paying their mortgages, paying their [00:30] bills, dealing with situations when they don't get paid. [00:34] And I said just why won't you do that? We'll continue to [00:37] discuss. We're willing to discuss anything And he said [00:44] if I open up the Government, you won't do what I want. [00:48] That's cruel, that's callous, and that's using millions of [00:52] innocent people as sort of pawns. And it was wrong. [00:57] And then, a few minutes later, he sort of Slam the table [01:02] and when leader Pelosi said she didn't agree with the [01:05] wall, he just walked out and said, we have nothing to [01:08] discuss. He said it was a waste of his time. He said it [01:10] was a waste of his time. That is sad and unfortunate. [01:15] We wanna come to an agreement. We believe in [01:17] border security. We have different views. We've [01:19] already offered the President our proposals which has [01:23] sat on his desk for several weeks. But [01:28] this was really, really unfortunate and in [01:32] my judgment somewhat unbecoming of a president. [01:34] Presidency. He asked Speaker Pelosi that if he opened [01:38] things up quickly, if he reopened the government [01:40] quickly, would she be willing to agree to funding [01:45] for a wall or a barrier on the southern border. And [01:49] when she said no, the president said goodbye. How [01:52] does it help that the president walked out of the How [01:53] is that getting closer to a solution? Well I [01:58] think the President made his position very clear today, [02:01] that there will be no deal without a wall. [02:05] There will be no deal without the priorities the [02:08] President has put on the table. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5498428/donald-trump-pelosi-schumer-meeting/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5498428/donald-trump-pelosi-schumer-meeting/"},"headline":"'I Said Bye-Bye.' 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