House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said Monday that President Donald Trump hasn’t granted House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Republicans “permission” to negotiate about the government shutdown, which is in its 13th day.

“Speaker Mike Johnson and I have not met because Donald Trump has not given them permission to meet,” Jeffries told MSNBC. “We know that until Donald Trump gives them permission to meet, they’re going to continue to hide as it relates to sitting down and negotiating a bipartisan agreement.”

Earlier on Monday, Mike Johnson highlighted the potential for this shutdown to surpass the 2018-2019 record, which lasted 35 days, unless Democrats agree to a proposed GOP-backed stopgap bill intended to reopen the government. However, this bill has faced repeated setbacks, failing to progress in the Senate on seven occasions.

“Republicans are eager to return to the actual negotiating table to finish out full-year appropriations and do work on all the other matters before us,” asserted Johnson during a Capitol Hill press conference. He was adamant about not negotiating “in smoke-filled back rooms” or under the conditions of being “hostages.”

In an effort to apply pressure, Johnson has extended the House’s recess throughout the shutdown period, canceling scheduled votes in the hope of compelling Democrats to pass the temporary funding proposal.

Democrats have said they aren’t going to cave into the GOP, demanding the extension of subsidies through the Affordable Care Act, which is set to expire at the end of the year.  Republicans, meanwhile, have said such policy does not belong in a short-term funding bill.

Jeffries told MSNBC’s Katy Tur that Democrats were ready to talk to find a solution. 

“So we’ve made clear from the very beginning, we’ll sit down with anyone, anytime, anyplace, to find a bipartisan path forward toward reopening the government,” he said, but added that the solution did not involve passing a continuing resolution to fund the government now and talk about health care later. 

“Well, there’s definitively no reason to ever trust the Republicans, particularly as it relates to the health care issue and the Affordable Care Act,” Jeffries said.