Migrant caravan - live updates: Trump threatens to close border amid government shutdown as he claims new caravan is forming
President cites absolutely no evidence as he seeks to stoke immigration fears with claim of new caravan forming in Honduras
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Donald Trump's frustration at the denial of his request for $5bn in funding from Congress for his promised wall on the US-Mexico border is building as the government shutdown continues with no end in sight.
The president has once again threatened to close America's southern border unless he receives the funding, and has also threatened to cut US funding to Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador over what the president claims is a lack of action over immigration.
People from the three nations formed the bulk of the caravans that have reached the US border in recent weeks, with Mr Trump claiming - without evidence - another is forming in Honduras. It comes as US immigration officials face questions over the deaths of two Guatemalan children at the border in the last two weeks.
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Mr Trump also claimed over Christmas that he had awarded 115 miles of new border wall construction in Texas. But that appears to confuse work that’s already funded and underway.
Mr Trump tweeted on Monday, “I am in the Oval Office & just gave out a 115 mile long contract for another large section of the Wall in Texas.”
Also, Mr Trump cannot award construction contracts. US Customs and Border Protection and the US Army Corps of Engineers award contracts for border wall construction after Congress approves funding and months have gone into planning.
According to Department for Homeland Security, funding from Congress awarded in March will pay for 84 miles (135 kilometres) of border wall along the southern border, including 33 miles for Texas. And if the Trump administration gets the $5bn it has requested, DHS says it would build 215 miles that it considers the “highest priority,” including 159 miles in Texas.
As well as the immigration issue, it appears that Mr Trump is bearing the bulk of the blame from voters for the shutdown.
According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Thursday, 47 per cent of Americans hold Mr Trump responsible, while 33 per cent blame Democrats in Congress.
Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen is visiting the Texas border city where an 8-year-old Guatemalan boy was detained with his father and later died in government custody .
DHS spokeswoman Katie Waldman said Ms Nielsen is heading to El Paso on Friday. Ms Waldman said Ms Nielsen will tour multiple stations and substations operated by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
Ms Nielsen is also scheduled to meet with emergency medical technicians and medical professionals, as well as local officials.
The trip comes four days after the death of 8-year-old Felipe Gomez Alonzo. Felipe was the second Guatemalan child to die in CBP's custody in just more than two weeks.
Ms Nielsen has called the death "deeply concerning and heartbreaking" and requested medical help from other government agencies.
Meanwhile, when asked about Mr Trump's border-closing threat, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador told reporters it was an internal US government matter.
"We take great care of the relationship with the government of the United States," Mr Lopez Obrador said.
"Of course we will always defend our sovereignty ... We will always protect migrants, defend their human rights," he added.
Here is a more detail on those Trump tweets from earlier on the border situation.
One of the new members of Congress Ilhan Omar, set to take up her seat in the New Year as hit out at Mr Trump. The would-be Minnesota Representative has called the spat over the border wall a presidential "temper tantrum".
Museums and galleries in Washington DC will begin closing next week if the partial shutdown of the federal government drags on.
The attractions have stayed open by using unspent funds but they are about to run out of money.
Museums and galleries under the Smithsonian Institution umbrella will close from 2 January.
That includes the National Zoo, as well as the National Air and Space Museum, the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the National Museum of Natural History, and several galleries, including the National Portrait Gallery.
The White House certainly has their sights trained on the Democrat leadership over the shutdown.
"We're here, and they know where to find us," Mick Mulvaney, the acting White House chief of staff, said in an interview with Fox News Channel. "Where is Chuck Schumer? Where is Nancy Pelosi? They're not even talking right now," he said. Schumer is the top Democrat in the Senate and Pelosi is the incoming speaker of the House of Representatives.
A spokesman for Mr Schumer said the White House has been told that there are three existing federal funding proposals containing funds for border security that could pass both the House and the Senate - and that Mr Trump should accept one of those.
With that, we are closing our coverage for now. Thanks for reading.
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