President, Pelosi trade barbs as shutdown drags on

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi accused President Donald Trump yesterday of putting her and fellow lawmakers in danger by publicising their travel plans to Afghanistan, forcing them to abandon the trip, as their feud escalated and the US government shutdown dragged on.

Pelosi said the State Department had determined that the trip could no longer be made without endangering the safety of lawmakers, troops and support personnel.

Her accusation came a day after Trump denied Pelosi the use of military aircraft, forcing her to make plans to take commercial flights to Afghanistan – before she abandoned that plan, too, accusing the administration of leaking word of it.

‘‘You never give advance notice of going into a battle area – you just never do it,’’ Pelosi said.

The White House forcefully denied Pelosi’s claims.

The record-breaking partial government shutdown entered its 28th day yesterday with no signs of any negotiations.

The spat left some lawmakers downcast over prospects for finding an end to the shutdown, which has forced 800,000 federal workers to go without pay since December 22.

The furloughed workers and those forced to work without pay will soon miss another paycheque unless the shutdown is somehow resolved.

Trump said on Twitter yesterday that he would be making an announcement on the southern border and the shutdown from the White House today.

Two people familiar with the White House’s planning said Trump was preparing to make a new offer to Democrats, which could include items he believes Democrats favour as part of a broader border security package.

Trump is reportedly not planning to declare a national emergency on the southern border, something he has threatened to do for more than a week and an option he continues to consider.

The ongoing shutdown of some 25 per cent of the federal government resulted from Trump’s demands for US$5.7 billion to build new walls along the US-Mexico border.

Pelosi calls the wall ‘‘immoral’’, and Democrats are refusing to offer more than US$1.3b to extend existing funding levels for border barriers and fences.

In one bright spot in the day, former president George W Bush was photographed delivering pizzas to furloughed federal workers.

AP Former US president George W Bush delivers pizzas to his secret service detail in Florida as a show of support for federal employees affected by the partial US government shutdown.