Trump, Schumer Hold Rare Meeting At White House To Discuss Gateway Tunnel Project

Authored by Joseph Lord via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

President Donald Trump and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) held a rare meeting at the White House on Thursday to discuss an array of issues.

Schumer’s top concern was the Trump administration’s hold on the $16 billion Gateway tunnel project between New York and New Jersey.

“In the meeting, Leader Schumer emphasized the urgent need to promptly release the already-secured funds for the Gateway Program—the most important infrastructure project in the nation employing thousands of workers and vital to New York and the entire Northeast economy,” Schumer’s office said in a readout of the meeting.

According to Schumer, Trump requested the meeting.

Over the past year, Schumer and Trump have disagreed publicly on an array of issues—executive nominations, health care subsidies, a 43-day government shutdown, and others—but the two New Yorkers have rarely met in person.

Late last year, Trump indicated that the funding for the project would not be provided due to the government shutdown.

Aside from the tunnel project, Schumer’s office said that the Democratic leader encouraged Trump to throw his backing behind a bill that would extend tax credits for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) for three years.

The bill was advanced by the House on Jan. 7 in a 221–205 vote that originated with a discharge petition, a parliamentary measure that allows bills to advance without the speaker’s approval. The next day, the House approved the measure in a final 230–196 vote, which won the support of 17 Republicans.

The bill would restore ACA enhanced tax credits, which were created during the Biden administration under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 and later extended by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. Those subsidies expired at the end of 2025.

Following the House’s passage of the bill, Trump indicated he may veto it.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) blocked any debate on renewing the tax credit subsidies ahead of the House vote.

The two also discussed the ongoing controversy surrounding Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, which has sprung up in the wake of the ICE-involved shooting of Renée Nicole Good in Minneapolis.

Amid mass protests in Minneapolis calling for ICE to withdraw from the city, Trump has surged immigration agents to the area. Democrats and local leaders have echoed the call for ICE to scale back operations in the area.

“Leader Schumer told the president ICE raids are terrorizing communities,” Schumer’s office said. “Leader Schumer also told President Trump that their actions are dangerous and putting more people at risk and he must pull back ICE from U.S. cities.”

The Associated Press and Bill Pan contributed to this report.