Trump says hopefully partial govt shutdown won't "last long"

U.S. President Donald Trump said late Friday that he hopes an impending partial shutdown of the federal government will not "last long."

"We are going to have a shutdown, there is nothing we can do about that, because we need the Democrats to give us their votes," Trump said in a video released on Twitter.

"The shutdown will hopefully not last long," Trump added.

The message came after U.S. lawmakers failed to reach an agreement earlier in the day over a stopgap funding measure that includes funding for Trump's long-promised U.S.-Mexico border wall, a centerpiece of his 2016 presidential campaign but firmly opposed by Democrats.

The partial shutdown, scheduled for Friday midnight (0500 GMT on Saturday), would affect nine Cabinet-level U.S. departments and dozens of agencies, including the department of Homeland Security, Transportation, Interior, Agriculture, State and Justice.

It also forces some 800,000 federal employees to go on furlough or work without pay.

The House and Senate have adjourned until Saturday noon.

Earlier this week, senators reached a deal on a short-term funding measure that did not include the 5 billion U.S. dollars Trump has sought for the border wall. The president, thought to have softened his stance over it, said Thursday he would not sign the bill.

The House passed a temporary spending bill late Thursday that includes the border wall money but it couldn't get enough votes to clear the Senate, setting the stage for the showdown between Capitol Hill and the White House.

Trump was trying to pin the shutdown on Democrats, while Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said on the Senate floor that the president "has thrown a temper tantrum" and "has us careening towards a Trump shutdown over Christmas."

It would be the third U.S. federal government shutdown this year.

Trump announced via Twitter that he has cancelled his planned trip to the state of Florida for the Christmas holiday.