President Barack Obama Tuesday called on Republican leaders to be more accepting of Democratic proposals, urging them to meet him halfway on major proposals.
Speaking to reporters in a rare appearance in the White House briefing room, Obama said he had stressed to GOP leaders in an earlier meeting that bipartisanship requires both sides to compromise.
"Bipartisanship can't be that I agree to all the things that they believe in or want, and they agree to none of the things I believe in and want," he said. "I'm willing to move off some of the preferences of my party in order to meet them halfway. But there's got to be some give from their side as well."
He added, "That's true on health care; that's true on energy; that's true on financial reform."
Obama also made the point that the logjam in Washington could be contributing to a sense of uncertainty in the economy that might be hampering the recovery.
"The sooner the business community has a sense that we've got our act together here in Washington and can move forward on big, serious issues in a substantive way without a lot of posturing and partisan wrangling, I think the better off the entire country is going to be," he said.
Obama indicated that, especially on energy and climate change legislation that is currently before Congress, he was willing to include proposals favored by the GOP, including more domestic production of fossil fuels and nuclear power.
"I am very firm in my conviction that the country that leads the way in clean energy -- solar, wind, biodiesel, geothermal -- that country is going to win the race in the 21st century global economy," he said. "So we have to move in that direction."
He added, "Given our energy needs in order to continue economic growth, produce jobs, make sure our businesses are competitive around the world, that we're going to need some of the old, traditional energy sources as we're developing these new ones and ramping them up."
Obama said he would continue to hope that Republicans and Democrats alike would come together on a consensus approach to move forward.
"It's the right thing to do," he said. "And all I can do is just to keep on making the argument about what's right for the country and assume that over time people, regardless of party, regardless of their particular political positions, are going to gravitate towards the truth."
Obama also said he hoped that an upcoming health care summit he plans to hold with Republicans would be productive.
"My hope is that this doesn't end up being political theater," he said. "Let's establish some common facts. Let's establish what the issues are, what the problems are, and let's test out in front of the American people what ideas work and what ideas don't."
He added, "If we can establish that factual accuracy about how different approaches would work, then I think we can make some progress."
However, he also stressed again that the GOP would have to engage in some give and take.
"Bipartisanship cannot mean simply that Democrats give up everything that they believe in, find the handful of things that Republicans have been advocating for and we do those things," he said. "That's not how it works in any other realm of life."
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.