In response to a question from Spectrum News, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Thursday told reporters that President Joe Biden would call the California Republican in the coming days to further discuss the debt ceiling.

McCarthy's comments come one day after a high-stakes meeting with Biden about the country's debt limit, after which the California Republican said he believes that he and the president can find "common ground." 

The meeting was the latest in the standoff between the White House and House Republicans over the country’s borrowing limit after the U.S. reached the $31.4 trillion debt ceiling last month. The Treasury Department has begun using “extraordinary measures” to fund operations and allow the country to continue paying its debts, which are expected to run out in June.

"The next step is very clear: We left it that he'll give me a call a couple days to set up the next meeting," McCarthy said in response to a question from Spectrum News' Cassie Semyon. "Not who would come, not any of that."

McCarthy went on to say that he appreciated Biden's comments at the National Prayer Breakfast earlier Thursday. The president at the event called for Americans – and the lawmakers who represent them – to treat one another with more respect.

"Let’s just sort of, kind of, join hands again a little bit, let's start treating each other with respect," the president said. "That's what Kevin and I are going to do. Not a joke. We had a good meeting yesterday."

"I think we got to do it across the board," Biden continued. "It doesn’t mean we’re going to agree and fight like hell. But let’s treat each other with respect."

"I just got to see [Biden] at the prayer breakfast, he sat next to me and he said 'Very good meeting,'" McCarthy said. "I thought his comments up at the prayer breakfast, that we're going to treat people with respect ... I have respect for the president and I want to be very responsible with how we deal with it."

"I was very clear with the president: We should not wait five months," the California Republican added. "Let's not put America through turmoil."

McCarthy said that he believes the "most sensible way" to address the debt ceiling "is we sit down together and we start talking."

"I know before [Biden] said he wouldn't negotiate, but yesterday was a very nice conversation for more than an hour," he added. "It didn't mean we agreed but we staked out different positions. And I think at the end of the conversation, between both ends we thought, 'You know what? This is worthwhile to continue.' We're going to continue it."

Spectrum News reached out to the White House for comment. At a briefing on Thursday, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters that they "don't have any calls to preview or to speak to."

"As you heard from the speaker and also from the president, it was a good discussion, it was an honest discussion," Jean-Pierre said. "Our senior staff has followed up and communicated our appreciation to the speaker's team and we will continue to stay in touch as we have been for the past several months."

Asked by reporters after Wednesday's meeting, McCarthy would still not say which budget cuts he wants. Republicans want to tie the debt ceiling increase to spending cuts, saying that they would only raise the limit to secure an overhaul in federal spending. They have not yet specified their desired cuts.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Wednesday repeated that the White House wants the debt ceiling lifted "without conditions," as has been done dozens of times in the past under both Republican and Democrat majorities.

"There is a basic duty to lift the debt ceiling," she said, which is necessary for the U.S. to pay its debts from past spending.

McCarthy on Wednesday compared the nation's debt to a credit card bill.

"You're responsible for paying that credit card, but the responsible thing, too, is going forward, not just raise the limit but look at how you're spending," he said.

The California Republican said that he and Biden spoke for an hour: "He gave me his perspective. I gave him our perspective."

In a statement, the White House said that Biden and McCarthy had a "frank and straightforward dialogue" and the two men covered a wide range of issues. The president emphasized to McCarthy "that he is eager to continue working across the aisle in good faith," citing examples of bipartisan legislation passed in the first two years of his administration.

"President Biden made clear that, as every other leader in both parties in Congress has affirmed, it is their shared duty not to allow an unprecedented and economically catastrophic default," the White House statement reads. "The United States Constitution is explicit about this obligation, and the American people expect Congress to meet it in the same way all of his predecessors have. It is not negotiable or conditional."

Biden, the White House said, "welcomes a separate discussion with congressional leaders about how to reduce the deficit and control the national debt while continuing to grow the economy."

Spectrum News' Austin Landis contributed to this report.