A Democrat senator has referred to the US-Mexico border wall as a "poison pill" for the budget as the White House hinted it could leave wall funding out of the equation.

Donald Trump had proposed a budget that included a request for $2.8bn (£2.25bn) from the Department of Homeland Security for border security – of which a proportion would be intended to fund the wall.

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And the White House was expected to request an additional $1.5bn for construction of the border wall, The Hill reports.

However, it is now thought Trump could agree to a budget that does not include funding for the wall.

Asked on Wednesday (29 March) about wall funding and whether it would be a deal-breaker for the president in terms of the remainder of the budget, White House press secretary Sean Spicer replied: "That is our request."

"We will continue to work with Congress on the rest of the budget," he added.

The development is sure to be welcomed by Democrat senators, with Catherine Cortez Masto earlier referring to the border-wall element of the budget proposal as a "poison pill".

She told The Hill: "If we really want good government and governing, we're going to be focused on passing a budget without any poison pills attached to it, and that's clearly what this is: it's a poison pill trying to, again, play with people's lives, and it needs to stop."

Donald Trump Budget