US President Donald Trump’s dispute with Democrats over border wall funding has led to the longest-ever US government shutdown (Jim WATSON)

Washington (AFP) – US President Donald Trump said Saturday he would make a “major announcement” later in the day on the government shutdown that has halted many government services, as Democrats reportedly made a new offer aimed at ending the bitter partisan standoff over immigration and border security.

“It will be an important statement,” Trump told reporters on the White House lawn before leaving on a short trip to Delaware to pay tribute to four Americans killed in an attack claimed by the Islamic State group in Syria. 

While suggestions of “major” announcements can be overblown, Trump’s comments follow a New York Times report that Democrats have added more than $1 billion to their previous offer of $1.3 billion for new border security — one of the first signs of possible movement after weeks of rancor between the president and opposition Democrats.

Even some Republicans are not happy with the shutdown.

The Washington Post said Trump would propose new language to protect some young undocumented immigrants — a subject Democrats have so far said should be kept separate from the border wall — but it said he would not, for now, declare a national emergency to secure wall funding.

The president’s dispute with Democrats sparked a partial government shutdown on December 22, with steadily growing national impact. While polls show more Americans blame him and Republicans than blame Democrats, both sides are feeling pressure to end the month-long standoff.

It is the longest ever US government shutdown — a disruptive political ritual almost unique to the American system.

The Times said roughly half the additional $1 billion being offered by Democrats would go to improve infrastructure at ports of entry, and the other half would fund 75 new immigration judges — but with no new money for a wall. 

Democrats have insisted that there are better, cheaper ways to achieve border security.

It remained unclear whether Trump — who has demanded $5.7 billion for the wall which was one of his foundation campaign promises — would be swayed by the new offer, or the Democrats by his. 

In his remarks early Saturday he again pressed his argument for a border barrier. Referring to new groups of immigrants now moving north toward the US border, Trump said that “if we had a wall we wouldn’t have a problem.”

In a video Trump posted Friday on Twitter, he insisted on the need to “secure” the border, which he said had become the focus of both a humanitarian and a national security crisis — although critics say it is a crisis he created.

“Take the politics out of it, let’s get to work and let’s make a deal,” he said.

Despite that plea, Trump on Saturday again injected a political note when he said of Pelosi — his primary interlocutor in the negotiations since Democrats regained control of the House in November — that “she’s under total control of the radical left.”

The already-strained relationship took a turn for the worse on Wednesday when Pelosi suggested that Trump delay his State of the Union Message until the shutdown ends. He then blocked her use of a military plane to lead a congressional delegation to visit US troops in Afghanistan.  

That left many analysts saying it was hard to see how the two sides could reconcile their sharp differences.

But with stories of suffering Americans proliferating, pressure has grown on both sides. 

– ‘We need walls’ –

Trump said Saturday that he hoped that “Speaker Pelosi can come along and realize what everybody knows, no matter who it is, they know that walls work and we need walls.”

The standoff has left about 800,000 federal employees either sent home or, if their jobs are deemed “essential,” working without pay. 

All are expected to receive back wages once the shutdown ends, but in the meantime many have had difficulty paying bills or even feeding their families.

Trump has regularly warned of what he says is a serious threat from undocumented migrants entering the country, which is grappling with a surge in arrivals by families and children. 

He warned again on Saturday about “caravans” moving northward toward the US, saying, “This country cannot be secure” without a wall. 

A group of 2,000 Central American migrants are currently moving towards the United States, and hundreds of them on Friday crossed the border illegally from Guatemala to Mexico.

Another caravan of about 200 migrants set out Wednesday from El Salvador and had reached southern Mexico.

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