WASHINGTON — President Trump and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) huddled Thursday for a private discussion focused on infrastructure funding for New York’s Gateway tunnel project.
The rare afternoon meeting between the oftentimes at-odds leaders — who have spent much of the last year railing against each other — also touched on healthcare and immigration policy.
Follow The Post’s live coverage of President Trump and national politics for the latest news and analysis
“They’re both very New York, and few in DC get what that actually means,” said a source who knows both men.
The sitdown between Trump and the most powerful congressional Democrat, whom the president has nicknamed “Cryin’ Chuck” and “our great Palestinian senator,” wasn’t publicly known until after it had ended.
“President Trump requested a meeting with Leader Schumer at the White House to discuss the president’s hold on the Gateway tunnel project between New York and New Jersey,” the senator’s office said in a statement.
Trump froze about $18 billion in funding for the Gateway tunnel and the Second Avenue subway project in October on the first day of the Schumer-led partial government shutdown, during which Democrats for 43 days held up funding in a bid to extend Obamacare subsidies.
“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,” his office said.
“Leader Schumer also raised the need for President Trump to push Senate Republicans to support the 3-year extension of the [Affordable Care Act] tax credit bill that has already passed the House.”
It was not immediately clear if Trump committed to restore the paused infrastructure funds, or if Schumer offered any concessions in return. A variety of social-services funds for New York and four other states also were paused this month with the administration citing fraud concerns.
And there’s no indication yet that Trump agreed to extend pandemic-era health insurance subsidies that expired Dec. 31 for about 20 million middle-class policy holders — despite the Republican-led House last week passing a three-year extension.
Trump on Thursday announced a new legislative plan for healthcare, featuring federal subsidies that would flow into Health Savings Accounts, rather than go toward health insurance premiums.
Schumer also “told the president ICE raids are terrorizing communities [and] told President Trump that their actions are dangerous and putting more people at risk and he must pull back ICE from U.S. cities,” his office said.
The White House did not immediately comment on the meeting.