Donald Trump to deliver TV address to nation and visit US-Mexico border as shutdown stand-off intensifies

Donald Trump will address the nation on Tuesday and visit the US-Mexico border on Thursday to highlight his demands for a border wall as the government remains partially shut down.

Newly empowered Democrats in the House of Representatives are stepping up pressure on Mr Trump and Republican lawmakers to reopen the government, which has been closed more than a fortnight.

Mr Trump said he would discuss the "Humanitarian and National Security crisis on our Southern Border" at 9 pm EST. He maintains that more than $5 billion for a wall is necessary to secure the border.

The president'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 on Monday night.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders tweeted on Monday that Mr Trump would use the visit to "meet with those on the front lines of the national security and humanitarian crisis".

As the shutdown lurched 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, including possible cuts in food stamp programs for the poor.

Mr Trump has offered to build the barrier with steel rather than concrete, billing that as a concession to Democrats' objections to a solid wall. They "don't like concrete, so we'll give them steel," he has said.

But the Democrats have made clear they see a wall as immoral and ineffective and prefer other types of border security funded at already agreed-upon levels.

White House officials affirmed Mr Trump's funding request in a letter to Capitol Hill after a meeting on Sunday with senior congressional aides led by Vice President Mike Pence at the White House complex yielded little progress.

The letter from Office of Management and Budget Acting Director Russell Vought sought funding for a "steel barrier on the Southwest border."

The White House said the letter, as well as details provided during the meeting, sought to answer Democrats' questions about the funding request.

Democrats, though, said the administration still failed to provide a full budget of how it would spend the billions requested for the wall from Congress.

Mr Trump campaigned on a promise that Mexico would pay for the wall, but Mexico has refused.

The administration letter includes a request for $800 million for "urgent humanitarian needs," a reflection of the growing anxiety over migrants travelling to the border - which the White House said Democrats raised in the meetings.

And it repeats some existing funding requests for detention beds and security officers, which have already been panned by Congress and would likely find resistance among House Democrats.

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

That effort is designed to squeeze Senate Republicans, some of whom are growing increasingly anxious about the extended shutdown.

Among the Republicans expressing concern was Susan Collins,  the senator for Maine, who said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell should take up bills from the Democratic-led House.

"Let's get those reopened while the negotiations continue," Ms Collins said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

Adding to concerns, federal workers might miss this week's paychecks. Mr 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."

Over the weekend, the federal agency tasked with guaranteeing US airport security acknowledged an increase in the number of its employees calling off work.

But Mr Trump and the Department of Homeland Security pushed back on any suggestion that the call-outs represented a "sickout" that was having a significant effect on US air travel.

At the White House, on Monday, 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. "We are willing to come to a deal to reopen the government."

Mr Trump reaffirmed that he would consider declaring a national emergency to circumvent Congress and spend money as he saw fit. Such a move would seem certain to draw legal challenges.

Incoming House Armed Services Committee chairman Adam Smith, a Democrat, said on ABC's "This Week" that the executive power has been used to build military facilities in Iraq and Afghanistan but would likely be "wide open" to a court challenge for a border wall.

Speaking on CNN's "State of the Union," Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff called the idea a "nonstarter."

Mr Trump asserted that he could relate to the plight of the hundreds of thousands of federal workers who aren't getting paid, though he acknowledged they will have to "make adjustments" to deal with the shutdown shortfall.