Trump to meet with US congressional leaders in last-ditch effort to avoid shutdown

US president reverses course days after scrapping meeting to discuss crisis with Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer

Donald Trump has reversed course and is purportedly planning to host a bipartisan gathering of the top four US congressional leaders at the White House on Monday afternoon in a last-ditch effort to avoid a looming government shutdown, the House speaker and the US president's fellow Republican Mike Johnson said on Sunday.

Trump's climbdown comes days after he scrapped a planned meeting to discuss the crisis with Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer, the respective Democratic minority leaders in the House and Senate.