USDA says SNAP benefits won't be issued on Nov. 1

In a brief statement Tuesday evening, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Trump should not leave for his trip to Asia without first negotiating with Democrats to end the shutdown.

"The country is in a health care crisis unlike we've ever seen and Donald Trump, instead of leaving the country, or before he leaves the country, should sit down and negotiate with us so we can address this horrible crisis," Schumer said.

Schumer said the White House has not "directly" responded to a request made by him and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries for a meeting.

"Not directly. We saw something the president said at his meeting, but we haven't heard a direct response, and we're going to follow up," Schumer told ABC News.

Asked to respond to Republicans repeatedly asserting that they won’t meet with Democrats until the government is reopened, Schumer fired back at Trump.

"The president should meet with us. It's not me, him or anything political. It's that the people are in crisis. Every day. They're getting these bills, the notifications of how much they're going to pay,” Schumer said. “And they're just — people are struck of the difficult they would be in not having health care, not being able to pay the rent if they pay for health care. They're just shocked at how bad this is. Trump has an obligation to negotiate with us and solve this problem."

-ABC News’ Allison Pecorin

Trump said he will not meet with congressional Democratic leaders to negotiate and end to the shutdown until after the government is funded.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Tuesday that he and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries "reached out to the president today and urged him to sit down and negotiate with us to resolve the health care crisis, address it, and end the shutdown." Schumer pointed out that Trump is leaving for Asia on Friday and said he wanted to meet with the president before then.

Trump said that he would meet with Democrats and even before he leaves for Asia after being asked by reporters, but said the government needs to be funded first.

"You know, the country is so hot right now, and they've never voted against, you know, continuation. They've never voted against. They've never done that. They're doing this because they have Trump derangement syndrome," Trump said.

"But I will -- I would love to meet -- I would like to meet with both of them, but, I -- I said one little caveat. I will only meet if they let the country open. They have to let the country open. The people want to go back to work. They want to be served. They want to — they, they need the services of some people. And a lot of people need the money, the payroll. So, I'll do it as soon as they open up the country," Trump added.

-ABC News’ Michelle Stoddart

Republican senators spoke at the White House calling on Democrats to avert a shutdown but when pressed by ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Mary Bruce, they made clear that there aren't active negotiations to get any closer to a deal.

"We are three weeks into this shutdown, and the two sides don't appear to even be talking. Do you owe it to the American people to at least be negotiating?" Bruce asked Senate Republican leaders after their lunch with President Trump.

"Well, I think we are. We have negotiated. I don't know what there is to negotiate. This is about opening up the government. We have offered them several off ramps," Thune said.

Thune said the Democrats' proposal is not something that would be signed by the president.

"What you do have is a bill that's passed the House, sitting at the desk in the Senate that the president's prepared to sign to open up the government," Thune added, referring to the Republicans' stopgap measure. "So I'm not sure people keep saying, you know, negotiate, negotiate what? I don't know what that is right now the government needs to open up, and then we're happy to sit down and talk about any other issues that Democrats want to talk about."

-ABC News' Michelle Stoddart and Allison Pecorin

As the impacts of the government shutdown continue to get worse by the day, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told ABC News the responsibility is on Republicans to negotiate and not on Democrats to vote for a clean extension.

ABC News Capitol Hill Correspondent Jay O'Brien Schumer on SNAP food assistance, a lifeline for millions of Americans that several states are warning won’t be available as of Nov. 1.

"Are Democrats, at least in part, to blame for some of that pain because you are the ones holding out?" O'Brien asked the Senate's top Democrat.

"No," Schumer said. "We have a very simple request, sit there and negotiate. The American people are aghast. Any observer, objective observer, is against that here on this serious problem, they won't even negotiate with us. The onus is on them to sit down. But that is why we have urged Hakeem and I have urged Trump to sit down with us and seriously negotiate."