“It’s not going to change a damn thing, but I’m still doing it,” Mr. Trump said of the border visit, according to one of the people, who was in the room. The trip was merely a photo opportunity, he said. “But,” he added, gesturing at his communications aides Bill Shine, Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Kellyanne Conway, “these people behind you say it’s worth it.”

Mr. Trump plans to head to the Capitol on Wednesday to attend a Senate Republican lunch and later will host congressional leaders from both parties to resume negotiations that so far have made little progress. Mr. Trump has insisted on $5.7 billion for the wall, while Ms. Pelosi said she would not give him a dollar for a wall she has called “immoral.”

In a nod to Democrats, Mr. Trump spent the first half of his talk on the humanitarian situation at the border before even mentioning the wall, expressing sympathy for those victimized by human smugglers. “This is a humanitarian crisis — a crisis of the heart and a crisis of the soul,” he said.

Even so, he directly took on Ms. Pelosi and Mr. Schumer. “The only thing that is immoral is the politicians to do nothing and continue to allow more innocent people to be so horribly victimized,” he said.

Mr. Trump has made the wall the singular focus of his presidency as he enters his third year in office. His promise to erect a “big, beautiful wall” along the border became perhaps the most memorable promise on the campaign trail this fall, eliciting chants from supporters of “build the wall,” and he has been frustrated by his inability to deliver on it.

But his alarming description of a “crisis” at the border has raised credibility questions. While experts agree there are serious problems to address, migrant border crossings have actually been declining for nearly two decades. The majority of heroin enters the United States through legal ports of entry, not through open areas of the border. And the State Department said in a recent report that there was “no credible evidence” that terrorist groups had sent operatives to enter the United States through Mexico.</s>US President Donald Trump has offered to erect a steel barrier rather than a concrete wall along the southern border with Mexico to iron out differences with Democrats over the issue which has led to a partial government shutdown for a fortnight now.

The partial shutdown started on December 22 when funding for many federal agencies expired and President Trump refused to sign any spending measure from Congress that did not include USD 5 billion for his US-Mexico border wall.

Democrats controlling the House have agreed to fund only USD 1.3 billion for border security.

Trump’s remarks on Sunday came after meetings between Vice President Mike Pence and Democratic congressional aides –House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.

Trump believes that the shift in materials might appease Democrats.

“We are now planning a steel barrier rather than concrete (wall). It is both stronger & less obtrusive. Good solution, and made in the USA,” Trump said as the shutdown stretched into its third week.

“VP Mike Pence and group had a productive meeting with the Schumer and Pelosi representatives today. Many details of Border Security were discussed,” he said.

“We’ve been in touch with a lot of people, and I informed my folks to say that we’ll build a steel barrier. Steel. It’ll be made out of steel. It’ll be less obtrusive, and it’ll be stronger,” Trump told reporters at the White House on his return from Camp David.

Responding to a question, Trump said Democrats did not like the option of a concrete wall along the Mexico border, so he has offered them with a steel one. Trump argues that a physical barrier along the US-Mexico border is essential to stop the flow of illegal immigrants into the US.

Democrats have said their opposition to the wall is a matter of morals and effectiveness. Democratic lawmakers have argued the wall would not be a good deterrent to illegal immigration, and that investments should be made in technology to secure the border.

The disagreement has been at the centre of a partial government shutdown.

“They don’t like concrete, so we’ll give them steel. Steel is fine. Steel is actually more expensive than concrete, but it will look beautiful and it’s very strong. It’s actually stronger,” Trump told reporters explaining the reasons for moving towards a steel-based physical barrier rather than a concrete one.

“What we need is we need a strong border. We have criminals coming in. We have human traffickers coming in. We have drugs pouring in. We have things happening that you don’t want to even know about. And it’s been that way for decades, and we can’t have it anymore,” Trump said.

He also threatened to impose national emergency to build the wall.

“We are looking at a national emergency, because we have a national emergency,” Trump told reporters.

Trump did not specify on the mode of payment for the border wall if he declares a national emergency.

January 12 would mark its 22nd day, setting a new record for US shutdowns. The longest on record lasted 21 days under President Bill Clinton, from the end of December 1995 through the start of January 1996.

The current shutdown has already taken a toll across the country. About 800,000 federal workers are furloughed or working without pay.</s>President Donald Trump aims to seize the power of the bully pulpit in the ongoing government shutdown debate stalemated over border wall funding by delivering a prime-time address Tuesday.

The President tweeted he will "address the nation" Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET "on the Humanitarian and National Security crisis on our Southern border," two days before he is scheduled to visit the border. Trump indicated to aides over the weekend that he was interested in delivering a prime-time address to call attention to the issue, but it was not immediately clear whether TV networks had agreed to clear airtime for a presidential address.

Trump's Monday afternoon tweet about his plans to address the country come as the government shutdown begins its third week, with Trump and congressional Democrats at an impasse over Trump's demand for nearly $6 billion in federal funding to build a wall on the southern border.

A White House official said Trump wants to make his case about the government shutdown and wall funding in advance of Thursday's border trip.

Bill Shine, the deputy chief of staff for communications, was set to meet with aides Monday afternoon to discuss the address. The New York Times first reported Trump's desire to address the nation.

Two days later, Trump will head to the US-Mexico border to "meet with those on the front lines of the national security and humanitarian crisis," White House press secretary Sarah Sanders announced Monday morning on Twitter.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has flatly rejected providing any funding for a border wall to resolve the stalemate. And Trump has threatened to drag on the shutdown for months or even years if he does not get funding for the border wall.

As the shutdown continues, more Americans are beginning to see its effects. Hundreds of thousands of federal workers are furloughed or working without pay. Transportation Security Administration officers at major airports around the country are not showing up for work. Conditions at national parks are deteriorating and the Department of Housing and Urban Development is running out of money for a key housing program.

But for now, both sides are sticking to their positions and negotiations over the weekend between Vice President Mike Pence and Democratic congressional staffers yielded little progress.

Illegal immigration has been a galvanizing issue for Trump's political base and Trump is making the calculus that the government shutdown is his best chance to pressure Democrats into ceding on funding for the border wall. But opposition to the border wall -- which Trump has now said would be built out of steel slats, rather than concrete -- has also become a unifying issue for Democrats, who gained control of the House this month.

Despite public polling indicating a majority of Americans oppose the construction of a border wall, Trump and his top advisers have continued to press their case.

Trump administration officials have pointed to a surge in migrant families crossing the border to make their case that the situation at the southern border is reaching critical proportions.

But Trump and his top officials have also pointed to misleading statistics to suggest terrorists are attempting to enter the United States through the southern border. Sanders, for example, falsely claimed on Sunday that "nearly 4,000 known or suspected terrorists come into our country illegally," even though the overwhelming majority of those individuals are blocked from entering the US at airports.

Pressed about the terrorism claims during an impromptu Rose Garden news conference last week, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen pointed to another statistic: that more than 3,000 "special interest aliens" have tried to enter the US through the southern border, suggesting those individuals "have travel patterns that are identified as terrorist travel patterns or they have known or suspected ties to terrorism."

But those individuals could also simply be coming from countries "where terrorism is prevalent, or nations that are hostile to the United States," as Nielsen's predecessor John Kelly previously defined the term.</s>President Donald Trump in a rare Oval Office address to the nation on Wednesday demanded funding for his long-promised US-Mexico border wall to halt "a growing humanitarian and security crisis" due to "uncontrolled and illegal" migration, but refrained from declaring a national emergency over the issue.

Trump's remarks came amid a partial government shutdown that is days away from becoming the longest in US history.

The president sought to pressure Democrats to agree to his request for USD 5.7 billion for the wall as a condition of ending the government shutdown.

He also tried to ramp up support among Republicans who are getting nervous about government workers and others who are feeling the pain of the shutdown.

"This is a humanitarian crisis. A crisis of the heart, and a crisis of the soul," Trump said in his maiden prime-time address from his Oval Office.

Noting that America proudly welcomes millions of lawful immigrants who enrich the American society and contribute to the nation, Trump said all Americans are hurt by uncontrolled, illegal migration.

"It strains public resources and drives down jobs and wages. Among those hardest hits are African-Americans and Hispanic Americans," he said in an eight-minute address as he sought to build a physical barrier along the southern Mexico border.

Funding for a border wall has been the main sticking point in negotiations with Democrats to reopen parts of the federal government that have been closed for 18 days.

A wall along the US-Mexico border was one of Trump's signature campaign promises. Trump wants USD 5.7 billion to build the wall, even though he said repeatedly during his campaign that he would make Mexico pay for the structure. Democrats are refusing to allocate the money, arguing that a wall would be costly and ineffective.

The standoff triggered a partial government shutdown on December 22, shuttering nine federal departments and several smaller agencies and forcing some 800,000 workers to go on unpaid leave or work without pay. The shutdown will enter its 19th day Wednesday, making it the second-longest in history.

Trump in the past few days had threatened to declare a national emergency over the issues that would have allowed him to start building the wall with military funds without congressional authorisation.

But in January 9 address he stopped short of declaring a national emergency.

Making a strong pitch for the wall, Trump said the federal government remained shut because of Democrats.

The president also said that 90 per cent of heroin sold in the US came from Mexico.

"Last month 20,000 migrant children were illegally brought into the United States, a dramatic increase. These children are used as human pawns by vicious coyotes and ruthless gangs. One in three women are sexually assaulted on the dangerous trek up through Mexico," Trump said.

"Women or children are the biggest victims by far of the broken system. This is the tragic reality of illegal immigration on our southern border. This is the cycle of human suffering that I am determined to end," he said.

"As part of an overall approach to border security law enforcement professionals have requested $5.7 billion for a physical barrier. At the request of Democrats, it will be a steel barrier rather than a concrete wall. This barrier is absolutely critical to border security. It's also what are professionals at the border want and need,"Trump said.

Trump said illegal immigrants and drugs flowing across the southern border posed a serious threat to American safety.

"The border wall would very quickly pay for itself. The cost of illegal drugs exceeds USD500 billion a year, vastly more than the USD5.7 billion we have requested from Congress,” Trump said.

The opposition Democrats immediately dismissed Trump's assertion on border security and accused the president of holding the nation hostage to a partial government shutdown for more than a fortnight now.

"Much of what we have heard from President Trump throughout this senseless shutdown has been full of misinformation and even malice. The President has chosen fear," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in the Democratic address to the nation immediately after Trump's prime time address.

"President Trump has chosen to hold hostage critical services for the health, safety and well-being of the American people and withhold the paychecks of 800,000 innocent workers across the nation – many of them veterans," she alleged.

Senate Minority Leader Senator Chuck Schumer said the American democracy doesn't work the way Trump wants.

"We don't govern by temper tantrum. No president should pound the table and demand he gets his way or else the government shuts down, hurting millions of Americans who are treated as leverage," he said.</s>WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 6: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to the media upon his return to the White House after a day trip to Camp David on January 6, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chris Kleponis - Pool/Getty Images)

Washington — President Trump will make a prime time address Tuesday night from the Oval Office about border security, as the partial government shutdown over his border wall continues into its third week. It will be his first prime time address from the Oval Office.

CBS News will air the president’s address, scheduled for 9 p.m. ET.

The president’s remarks will run no longer than eight minutes, according to the White House. Mr. Trump is expected to address the partial shutdown, the border crisis and the deadline for federal workers’ paychecks.</s>The partial federal government shutdown is stretching into day 17 with no immediate end in sight.

The partial shutdown of the federal government dragged into its 17th day on Monday with no end in sight. It is the third-longest government shutdown in U.S. history.

President Donald Trump continues to insist any deal to end the shutdown must include money to construct a barrier along the U.S.-Mexico border, while House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said they would not allocate any money for a wall.

President Trump said he wants $5.6 billion for the wall but would accept a “steel barrier” rather than the previously promised concrete. “I think we’re probably talking about steel because I really feel the other side feels better about it,” he told reporters Friday.

The Office of Management and Budget, in a letter sent to Capitol Hill, said the funds Trump was requesting would cover about 234 miles of the nearly 2,000-mile border.

The partial shutdown directly impacts some 800,000 federal workers, 420,000 of whom are considered essential and are working without pay. Another 380,000 have been furloughed.

“These workers are vulnerable,” Paul Light, a professor of public service at New York University, told CNBC. “If there’s no work on Monday, they don’t go in and they don’t get paid.”

Democrats, newly in control of the House of Representatives, passed a bill to reopen the government, but the president said he will not sign without additional funding for the wall.

The President of the National Treasury Employees Union, Tony Reardon, said he has heard from hundreds of employees who are scared of the financial implications. “They don’t know how they’re going to put food on the table,” he said.

The president said he was willing to continue the shutdown for months or years.</s>President Donald Trump says he will address the nation Tuesday night about what says is a “crisis” at the US-Mexico border.

Trump’s prime-time address will come amid a partial government shutdown caused by his insistence that Congress give him more than $5 billion to build a wall on the border. Congressional Democrats are refusing to pay for a wall.

Trump also plans a trip Thursday to the southern border to highlight his demands for the wall. Trump tweeted that he will address the nation at 9 pm Eastern time Tuesday.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders says President Donald Trump will be travelling to the U.S.-Mexico border on Thursday as a partial government shutdown continues.

Sanders says Trump will “meet with those on the front lines of the national security and humanitarian crisis. More details will be announced soon.”

Trump is showing no signs of budging on his demand for more than $5 billion for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

The shutdown has lasted more than two weeks so far with little indication it will end anytime soon.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi intends to begin passing individual bills to reopen agencies in the coming days, starting with the Treasury Department to ensure people receive their tax refunds.</s>The Latest: Trump to head to border as shutdown continues

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on the government shutdown (all times local):

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders says President Donald Trump will be traveling to the U.S.-Mexico border on Thursday as a partial government shutdown continues.

Sanders says Trump will "meet with those on the front lines of the national security and humanitarian crisis. More details will be announced soon."

Trump is showing no signs of budging on his demand for more than $5 billion for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

The shutdown has lasted more than two weeks so far with little indication it will end anytime soon.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi intends to begin passing individual bills to reopen agencies in the coming days, starting with the Treasury Department to ensure people receive their tax refunds.

Newly empowered House Democrats are planning to step up pressure on President Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers to reopen the government.

This comes after there was no weekend breakthrough to end a prolonged partial government shutdown, with Trump standing firm in his border wall funding demands.

Trump showed no signs of budging on his demand for more than $5 billion for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, though on Sunday he did offer to build it with steel rather than concrete, a concession Democrats panned.

With the shutdown lurching into a third week, many Republicans watched nervously from the sidelines as hundreds of thousands of federal workers went without pay and government disruptions hit the lives of ordinary Americans.</s>With no breakthrough in sight , President Donald Trump will argue his case to the nation Tuesday night that a "crisis" at the U.S.-Mexico border requires the long and invulnerable wall he's demanding before ending the partial government shutdown. Hundreds of thousands of federal workers face missed paychecks Friday as the shutdown drags through a third week.Trump's Oval Office speech - his first as president - will be followed by his visit Thursday to the southern border to highlight his demand for a barrier. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders tweeted that he will use the visit to "meet with those on the front lines of the national security and humanitarian crisis."The administration is also at least talking about the idea of declaring a national emergency to allow Trump to move forward on the wall without Congress approving the $5.6 billion he wants. Vice President Mike Pence said the White House counsel's office is looking at the idea. Such a move would certainly draw legal challenges, and Trump - who told lawmakers he would be willing to keep the government closed for months or even years - has said he would like to continue negotiations for now.Trump's prime-time address will be carried live by ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox Broadcasting, Fox News Channel, Fox Business Network, MSNBC and NBC.House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer called on the networks to give Democrats a chance to respond. "Now that the television networks have decided to air the President's address, which if his past statements are any indication will be full of malice and misinformation, Democrats must immediately be given equal airtime," they wrote in a joint statement released Monday night.As Trump's speech and border visit were announced, newly empowered House Democrats - and at least a few Republican senators - stepped up pressure on GOP lawmakers to reopen the government without giving in to the president's demands The closure, which has lasted 17 days, is already the second-longest in history and would become the longest this weekend.Leaning on Senate Republicans, some of whom are growing anxious about the impact of the shutdown, Pelosi said the House would begin passing individual bills this week that would reopen federal agencies, starting with the Treasury Department to ensure Americans receive their tax refunds.The White House moved to pre-empt the Democrats, telling reporters Monday that tax refunds would be paid despite the shutdown. That shutdown exemption would break from the practice of earlier administrations and could be challenged."There is an indefinite appropriation to pay tax refunds. As a result ... the refunds will go out as normal," said Russell Vought, acting director of the White House budget office.There were other signs that administration was working to control the damage from the shutdown, which has furloughed 380,000 federal workers and forced another 420,000 to work without pay. The National Park Service said it was dipping into entrance fees to pay for staffing at some highly visited parks to maintain restrooms, clean up trash and patrol the grounds, after reports of human waste and garbage overflowing in some spots.Over the weekend, the federal agency tasked with guaranteeing U.S. airport security acknowledged an increase in the number of its employees missing work or calling in sick.But Trump and the Transportation Security Administration pushed back on any suggestion that the call-outs at the agency represented a "sickout" that was having a significant effect on U.S. air travel. TSA said it screened more than 2.2 million passengers Sunday, a historically busy day due to holiday travel. Ninety percent waited less than 15 minutes, the agency said."We are grateful to the more than 51,000 agents across the country who remain focused on the mission and are respectful to the traveling public," said TSA spokesman Michael Bilello.The talks over ending the shutdown have been at an impasse over Trump's demand for the wall. He has offered to build the barrier with steel rather than concrete, billing that as a concession to Democrats' objections. They "don't like concrete, so we'll give them steel," he said.But Democrats have made clear that they object to the wall itself, not how it's constructed. They see it as immoral and ineffective and prefer other types of border security funded at already agreed-upon levels."Maybe he thinks he can bully us. But I'm from Brooklyn. You let a bully succeed, you'll be bullied again worse," Schumer said at a breakfast with the Association for a Better New York.At the White House, spokeswoman Mercedes Schlapp complained that Democratic leaders have yet to define what they mean when they say they are for enhancing border security."Democrats want to secure the border? Great. Come to the table," she said Monday. "We are willing to come to a deal to reopen the government."Trump has tasked Pence during the shutdown fight to negotiate with Democrats, including during talks over the weekend with Democratic staffers. But the vice president is increasingly being called upon to prevent defections in the GOP ranks.Asked whether cracks were forming between the White House and Republicans eager for the shutdown to end, Pence told reporters, "We've been in touch with those members and others."He said that he and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen would be at the Capitol on Tuesday and Wednesday to brief lawmakers.Among the Republicans expressing concern was Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell should take up funding bills from the Democrat-led House."Let's get those reopened while the negotiations continue," Collins said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press."However, McConnell has said he won't take up funding bills without Trump's support.Adding to concerns of lawmakers, federal workers who are still on the job apparently will miss this week's paychecks. Acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney said on NBC's "Meet the Press" that if the shutdown continues into Tuesday, "then payroll will not go out as originally planned on Friday night."Trump asserted that he could relate to the plight of the federal workers who aren't getting paid, though he acknowledged they will have to "make adjustments" to deal with the shutdown shortfall.Not so easy, many of them say.Derrick Padilla, a corrections officer with the Federal Bureau of Prisons in Colorado, has worked without pay for two weeks and said he's nearly depleted his savings."It's now becoming a game of, 'OK, who's going to get paid? How am I going to make this payment? What's the most important thing I have to pay for this month?'" he said."The bills don't go away," Padilla added. "We're expected to meet our financial obligations, and we're being put in a position to not be able to meet those obligations."For furloughed federal workers in Washington, some at least could enjoy the prospect of baseball in a few months. The Washington Nationals said season ticket holders who are laid off or not being paid by the federal government could postpone monthly ticket payments until the government is back up and running.</s>The Latest: Governors call for end to government shutdown

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump's request for funding for his promised U.S.-Mexico border wall and the partial government shutdown (all times local):

Leaders of the bipartisan National Governors Association are urging President Donald Trump and congressional leaders to end the partial government shutdown, telling them "a federal government shutdown should not be a negotiating tactic as disagreements are resolved."

The group's chairman, Montana Democrat Steve Bullock, and vice chairman, Maryland Republican Larry Hogan, sent the letter on Monday.

The message was made public Tuesday, the 18th day of the shutdown, as Trump prepared to make his case in a prime-time speech that there's a U.S.-Mexico border crisis that must be addressed. Trump wants billions of dollars to fund a border wall, which congressional Democrats oppose.

The governors say federal workers are being hurt and state business is being affected by shutdowns of federal departments and agencies. They warn shorelines are at risk with reduced Coast Guard capabilities.

With no breakthrough in sight, President Donald Trump is set to argue in a prime-time address that a "crisis" at the U.S.-Mexico border requires the wall he's demanding before ending the partial government shutdown.

Trump's speech on Tuesday night will be followed by his visit Thursday to the southern border. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders tweeted that he will use the visit to "meet with those on the front lines of the national security and humanitarian crisis."

The administration is also at least talking about declaring a national emergency to allow Trump to move forward on the wall without Congress approving the $5.6 billion he wants.

In the meantime, hundreds of thousands of federal workers face missed paychecks Friday as the shutdown drags through a third week.
U.S. President Donald Trump gives the first prime time address of his tenure in office to talk about the partial government shutdown and its key issue, proposed increased funding for the Mexico–United States barrier.