Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Tuesday questioned whether a meeting between President Trump and the top two Democratic leaders in Congress is “necessary” ahead of an end-of-month government shutdown deadline, adding that he and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) will be in attendance at the meeting if it happens.

Shortly after, Trump made a post on Truth Social saying that after reviewing Democrats’ demands, he had “decided that no meeting with their Congressional Leaders could possibly be productive” — appearing to call off any meeting until they “become realistic about the things that our Country stands for.”

A White House official had confirmed on Monday that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), who have been demanding that Trump address health care issues as part of a short-term funding measures, are set to meet with the president later this week.

“If there’s a meeting, I will certainly be there,” Johnson told reporters in the Capitol on Tuesday morning. “But I’m not certain that the meeting is necessary,” he added, accusing the Democratic leaders of making “wildly partisan” demands.

The House last week passed a “clean” continuing resolution (CR) to fund the government until Nov. 21, which the Senate promptly rejected as Schumer and Jeffries have called on Republicans to address issues like Affordable Care Act subsidies that expire at the end of the calendar year.

“Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries have made just wild partisan demands that they’re trying to attach to a very simple, short-term, very clean CR,” Johnson said Tuesday. “We just want to keep the government open so our appropriators can continue to do their work. That is a bipartisan concern and responsibility, and I have no idea why they’re trying to cloud this with … almost $1.5 trillion, with a T, in new spending and wildly partisan demands.”

He added. “They’re trying to make a mockery of it, and I don’t think it should be given any real regard.”

Still, Johnson said, “if there’s such a meeting with the leaders, then John Thune and I will certainly be a part of it.”

Schumer and Jeffires had previewed the meeting in a joint statement earlier Tuesday morning.

“After weeks of Republican stonewalling in Congress, President Trump has agreed to meet this week in the Oval Office,” Schumer and Jeffries said. “In the meeting, we will emphasize the importance of addressing rising costs, including the Republican healthcare crisis. It’s past time to meet and work to avoid a Republican-caused shutdown.”

The meeting is expected on Thursday. Trump is traveling to New York for the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday and set to return to Washington on Wednesday.

Due to the 60-vote filibuster threshold in the Senate, Republicans will need support from some Democrats to pass a short-term funding measure.

Congress is in recess this week, and Johnson canceled previously-schedule voting days on Sept. 29 and 30 as he aims to jam Senate Democrats into accepting the House-passed stopgap.

“The House is on district work period right now. We got our work done in the house. We got it done early with regard to the funding. People have a lot to do back in their districts, and so we’re on the ready at any time, but the plan would be to come back when it’s necessary,” Johnson said. “The current plan is to not have session days on September 29 and 30.”

Asked if it is a bad look if the House is not in session if the government does shut down, the Speaker said: “The government would not shut down at the earliest until October 1.”

“We’ll deal with it as appropriate. But if Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries decide they want to shut the government down, it’s — they’ve created the problem, we’ll have to resolve it,” he continued. “But what they need to do is vote to keep the government open and not make these wild demands in the midst of a serious situation for the whole country.”