Trump sees ‘unprecedented opportunity’ to punish Democrats as shutdown enters day two

Republicans and Democrats engage in war of words as White House also uses impasse to cut government spending

• US government shutdown - latest updates

As the US government shutdown stretched into its second day, Donald Trump on Thursday hailed the funding lapse as an unprecedented opportunity" to further his campaign of firing federal workers and downsizing departments.

The president announced on social media that he would sit down with Russell Vought, the White House office of management and budget chief and architect of the mass firings and buyouts of federal workers.