Trump blames Democrats for child border deaths as he ‘waits for shutdown deal in White House’

President claims migrants would not try to enter US if they knew there was a wall in the way

Donald Trump has blamed Democrats for the recent deaths of two children at the US-Mexico border in a series of tweets.

The US president said that he was “waiting in the White House” for his political opponents to strike a deal on his plan to build a border wall, as the government shutdown triggered by his refusal to budge on the issue stretched into its second week.

“Any deaths of children or others at the Border are strictly the fault of the Democrats and their pathetic immigration policies that allow people to make the long trek thinking they can enter our country illegally,” he tweeted.

It comes after the deaths of two young Guatemalan children in US government custody. The Department of Homeland Security has said that, following the deaths, it was implementing more thorough initial and follow-up medical screenings for migrants. Homeland security secretary Kirstjen Nielsen has admitted that the Customs and Border Protection agency is “clearly overwhelmed” and that the state of affairs there is a “humanitarian crisis”.

But on Saturday Mr Trump – tweeting from the White House having cancelled a festive trip to Florida – defended the border agencies. He said: “The two children in question were very sick before they were given over to Border Patrol. The father of the young girl said it was not their fault, he hadn’t given her water in days.

“Border Patrol needs the Wall and it will all end. They are working so hard & getting so little credit!”

The comment, made amid a stream of political jabs, was the first public statement from the president about the deaths of eight-year-old Felipe Gomez Alonzo, who died in New Mexico on Christmas Eve, and Jakelin Caal, seven, who died earlier this month in Texas. The circumstances around their deaths are being investigated.

The shutdown has left hundreds of thousands of government workers on furlough, or unpaid leave, and many government services will be unavailable, although some, like the FBI and Border Patrol, will continue working.

It began after Mr Trump demanded $5bn (£4bn) to construct a wall on the US border with Mexico, which Democrats have said they will not support. During his presidential campaign Mr Trump repeatedly insisted Mexico would be forced to foot the bill for the wall.

In a set-piece Oval Office meeting with Democratic leaders Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi earlier this month, the president claimed he would “own” the shutdown and be “proud” to have put government business on hold in the cause of improving border security. Since then, however, he has frequently blamed his political opponents for the impasse.

Government shutdowns happen fairly regularly, even as recently as January of this year. However, analysts suggest this one may not be resolved quickly; Democratic members of congress have showed no signs of agreeing to fund the wall and White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said on Friday that “we are far apart”. Republican John Mulvaney said that Democrats are not negotiating, adding: “There’s not a single Democrat talking to the president of the United States about this deal.”

The White House had offered to accept $2.5bn (£2bn) for border security, but neither Mr Trump nor Ms Pelosi and Mr Schumer have agreed to accept that offer. “Now we have to do it the hard way, with a Shutdown. Too bad!” Mr Trump tweeted on Saturday.

On Friday, the president tweeted a threat to “close the southern border entirely” unless the budget was passed soon, the third such threat in the past three months. Mr Trump argues that doing so would be a “profit making operation” because the US “looses soooo much money on Trade with Mexico under NAFTA”.