‘Not much headway’ — Trump

No safe exit US Vice President Mike Pence (center, bottom), White House Senior Adviser Jared Kushner (center) and Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen (left) exit the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington DC after a meeting with staff from the House and Senate leadership working towards an end to the government shutdown. AFP

WASHINGTON — White House officials and congressional aides emerged from talks to reopen the government without a breakthrough Saturday, though they planned to return to the table the following day.

President Donald Trump tweeted: “Not much headway made today.” The president later tweeted that he planned to go to his retreat at Camp David, Maryland, on Sunday morning to discuss border security and other topics with senior staff.

Democrats agreed there had been little movement Saturday, saying the White House did not budge on the President’s key demand, $5.6 billion to build a wall along the US-Mexico border.

The White House said funding was not discussed in-depth, but the administration was clear they needed funding for a wall and that they wanted to resolve the shutdown all at once.

Accusations flew after the more than two-hour session led by Vice President Mike Pence.

Acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, in an interview with CNN’s State of the Union, accused Democrats of being there to “stall.” Democrats familiar with the meeting said the White House position was “untenable.”