WASHINGTON House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) refused on Thursday to discuss former President Donald Trumps call for Republicans to allow an unprecedented default on the federal governments debt.

My concern is President Biden, McCarthy told reporters. President Biden doesnt want a deal. He wants a default.

Both McCarthy and Joe Biden, along with a host of economists, have said the federal government defaulting on its debts would be an economic catastrophe that could cost millions of jobs. But McCarthy has insisted that Republicans wont support a bill forestalling that outcome unless Biden and Democrats agree to significant federal spending cuts.

Speaking during a CNN town hall event on Wednesday, Trump said Republicans should hold out for those cuts no matter what.

I say to you right now, congressmen, senators: If they dont give you massive cuts, youre gonna have to do a default, Trump said, adding that he considered default unlikely because Democrats would cave to Republican demands.

You might as well do it now because youll do it later, Trump added.

The Treasury Department has said that sometime next month, the federal government will run out of spare cash and be unable to pay all of its bills unless Congress raises the so-called debt ceiling, thereby allowing Treasury to continue borrowing so it can meet basic expenses.

McCarthy noted that Republicans passed a bill in the House that would raise the debt ceiling until next year. The legislation would also slash federal spending, and Democrats have said its a non-starter in the Senate, meaning its highly unlikely to become law.

McCarthy complained that Biden has refused to negotiate over the debt limit, but the two met at the White House on Wednesday and their staff have been talking as well. McCarthy suggested, however, that his face-to-face meeting with the president wasnt much of a negotiation.

In whatever talks we have, you can tell right then, he doesnt want a deal, he wants a default, McCarthy said.

The speaker ignored a question from HuffPost about whether he still planned to meet with Biden again on Friday as the two sides had previously said would happen.

Nevertheless, at his weekly meeting with reporters, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said he was optimistic about Fridays meeting at the White House.

Im thankful that President Biden has set us on a path toward resolving this issue and that the meeting that is expected to take place at the White House tomorrow will be a continuation of that, he said. And I expect that it will go well.

While none of the participants in Tuesdays meeting expressed publicly any significant changes in their stances afterward, Jeffries said staff-level discussions continued to take place.

Its my understanding it was a very productive conversation at the staff level yesterday. Its my expectation there will be continued conversations today, he said.