The US government entered a shutdown after midnight on Wednesday as President Donald Trump and Congress were unable to resolve a budget deadlock, centred on Democratic demands for health care funding.

This marks the first federal shutdown in nearly seven years, following the historic 35-day closure, and will halt operations across multiple departments and agencies, impacting hundreds of thousands of government employees.

Trump placed the blame on Democrats for the stalled negotiations, warning that the party and its supporters could face consequences during the shutdown, including cuts to progressive programmes and widespread public-sector layoffs.

"So we'd be laying off a lot of people that are going to be very affected. And they're Democrats, they're going to be Democrats," Trump told

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