Trump to deliver border wall speech amid shutdown crisis

US President Donald Trump is set to argue that an immigration "crisis" requires his long-promised wall along the Mexican border.

The border wall demand has sparked an 18-day government shutdown. The president is insisting that $5bn (£4bn) be included for the border wall.

Trump’s Oval Office remarks, scheduled for 9 p.m. (0200 GMT Wednesday) will be the president’s latest attempt to convince Democrats and the government workers, to support his push for a steel barrier on the U.S. southern border that he says is needed to curb the flow of drugs and illegal immigration.

All the major U.S. television networks agreed to air Trump’s speech, prompting Democrats, who say a wall would be expensive, inefficient and immoral, to seek equal time.

The decision by the major US TV networks to set aside at least eight minutes of airtime for the speech has sparked controversy and fuelled debate on social media.

Critics pointed out that the networks aired President George W. Bush's prime-time address on immigration in 2006, but did not air one by President Barack Obama in 2014.

Democratic leaders in the House and Senate released a joint statement saying the speech would be misleading and demanding airtime to counter Trump's arguments.

"Now that the television networks have decided to air the President's address, which if his past statements are any indication will be full of malice and misinformation, Democrats must immediately be given equal airtime," their statement read.

Democrats, who control the U.S. House of Representatives, have rejected Trump’s demand for $5.7 billion to help build such a wall.

The emphasis on a crisis comes as Trump is considering declaring a national emergency in an effort to bypass Congress and build the wall without its approval.

The partial government shutdown, which began on 22 December, has affected 25% of the government. Some 800,000 federal employees have been temporarily laid off - or forced to work without pay.

Curbing illegal immigration was one of the main campaign promises Trump made when he ran for president.