By Jennifer Haberkorn

Los Angeles Times

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A day after calling for a bipartisan compromise to resolve the partial government shutdown, President Donald Trump stormed out of a White House negotiating session Wednesday when Democratic leaders refused to agree to his demand for taxpayer funds to build a southern border wall.

“Just left a meeting with Chuck and Nancy, a total waste of time,” Trump tweeted afterward. He said he asked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer of New York if they would agree to end the shutdown, now in its 19th day, in return for funds for a wall or steel barrier, one of his major campaign promises.

“Nancy said, NO. I said bye-bye, nothing else works!” the president tweeted.

Democratic leaders accused the president of throwing a temper tantrum.

“The president slammed the table, asked Speaker Pelosi if she would support his wall and when she said no, he walked out and said, ‘We have nothing to talk about,’” Schumer said. “He didn’t get his way and he just walked out of the meeting.”

Pelosi said a wall will not resolve the problems currently experienced at the border. “What Trump is claiming to be the situation at the border is not solved by a wall,” she said.

Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California, the Republican minority leader, said talks have been complicated because of Democrats’ hard-line stance, refusing to budge on the wall or even enter serious negotiations until the government is reopened.

“It is a real challenge when the Democrats won’t even give an offer back, won’t even do anything,” he said.

The hostile encounter marked a shift for Trump, who previously has spoken about the progress being made during talks. In recent days he has floated the idea of bypassing Congress entirely and declaring a national emergency at the border, which the administration believes will enable it to use other military funds to build the wall.

It also suggested that the shutdown is likely to become the longest on record, a threshold it will pass on Saturday.

The White House theatrics did little to mask the uphill battle facing Trump, whose demand for $5.7 billion in funds for a border wall precipitated the government shutdown last month.

Despite a White House offensive this week — including a rare Oval Office prime-time address Tuesday, a trip to Capitol Hill on Wednesday and a visit to the southern border Thursday — some Republicans are beginning to get nervous about the backlash they may face as the pain from the shutdown grows.

More than 800,000 workers have been furloughed, with many being forced to work without pay. Paychecks due to arrive Friday are not expected to arrive, forcing many families to miss mortgage payments, put off medical procedures or juggle bills.

Polls have shown that Americans increasingly blame Trump and the Republicans for the disruption.

Trump tried to assuage GOP concerns by meeting Senate Republicans on Thursday and urging them to stay united.

But his message did not appear to change the minds of the half dozen or so Senate Republicans who have come out publicly to urge Trump to reopen the government, even without getting the border money. They include Sens. Cory Gardner of Colorado and Susan Collins of Maine, both of whom will face voters in 2020.

Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who often votes independently from the GOP caucus and is among those urging Trump to end the shutdown without wall money, reminded Trump during the meeting that Americans were starting to feel the pain, according to NBC. He reportedly responded that Republicans should stay united.

Others left the meeting seeing no resolution in sight. Asked if he had the impression the shutdown would end soon, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott said: “I did not.”

After the meeting, Trump and party leaders stressed solidarity. “Republicans are totally unified,” Trump said.

But the White House PR offensive this week hasn’t gone as smoothly as hoped, partly because Trump has at times seemed to undercut the unity message and distanced himself from the shutdown. He reportedly complained to broadcasters Tuesday that didn’t think the Oval Office address or border trip were smart ideas, and his aides were making him do it.

In December, Trump said he’d gladly “own” the shutdown, but on Wednesday he told reporters: “This is not a fight I wanted. I didn’t want this fight.”