Trump will declare emergency to fund border wall, says White House

US President Donald Trump will declare a national emergency to fund his planned border wall with Mexico, the White House said on Thursday.

In a statement, the White House said Trump would sign a border security bill to avert a government shutdown, but also take "other executive action - including a national emergency" to appropriate funds for the wall.

Leading Democrat and House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi condemned Trump's move as a "lawless act, gross abuse of power and a desperate attempt to distract from the fact that President Trump broke his core promise to have Mexico pay for his wall".

“We will review our options, we will prepare to respond appropriately to it,” Pelosi said, warning that it would set a dangerous precedent.

“It is yet another demonstration of President Trump’s naked contempt for the rule of law. This is not an emergency, and the president’s fearmongering doesn’t make it one."

"He couldn't convince Mexico, the American people or their elected representatives to pay for his ineffective and expensive wall, so now he's trying an end-run around Congress in a desperate attempt to put taxpayers on the hook for it."

The compromise law $1.3bn (£1bn) in funding for border security, including physical barriers, but does not go towards Trump's wall, for which the president demanded $5.7bn from Congress.

The House, newly under Democrat control after the November midterm elections, refused to approve the funding, leading to Trump shutting down the government for a record 35 days, leaving 800,000 federal employees without pay.