President Donald Trump has offered to extend temporary protection for people brought to the US illegally as children in a bid to secure border wall funding.

Mr Trump has struggled to find a way out of a four-week partial government shutdown over his demand to construct a wall between the US and Mexico.

He promoted his plan on Saturday as a way to “break the logjam and provide Congress with a path forward to end the government shutdown”.

The president is also offering to extend protections for immigrants who came to the US as a result of war or natural disasters in their home countries.

He said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will bring the proposal for a vote in the Senate this week.

However Democrats, who control the House, are already saying they find the president’s offer unacceptable.

Speaking from the White House, Mr Trump said he was offering a “commonsense compromise both parties should embrace”.

Trump Government Shutdown
President Donald Trump speaks about the partial government shutdown (Alex Brandon/AP)

But in advance of his remarks, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the proposal for ending the 29-day partial government shutdown was “a compilation of several previously rejected initiatives, each of which is unacceptable”.

The California Democrat said Mr Trump’s offer was “not a good-faith effort” to help the immigrants and could not pass the House.

Democrats criticised the proposal because it did not seem to be a permanent solution for the affected immigrants and because it includes money for the wall along the US-Mexico border, which the party strongly opposes.

Democrats also want Mr Trump to reopen government before talks can start.