Donald Trump spent shutdown weekend watching old recordings of himself on television

While senators and congressmen were working hard to thrash out a deal on Capitol Hill to avoid a prolonged government shutdown, Donald Trump appeared to have other ideas.

The president had been scheduled to travel to Palm Beach in Florida to celebrate the first anniversary of his presidency on Saturday (20 January), but the glass-clinking plans were cancelled as the government shutdown loomed.

Guests at his Mar-a-Lago resort had reportedly paid $100,000 (£72,000, €82,000) to attend a glitzy event which was originally billed to star Trump as he marked his first year inside the White House.

But those guests were left disappointed when he was forced to stay back at in Washington.

So instead of speaking to his fans in Florida, Trump turned to Twitter and himself for his amusement.

On Saturday morning, Trump tweeted: "This is the One Year Anniversary of my Presidency and the Democrats wanted to give me a nice present. #DemocratShutdown."

Business Insider claimed that he spent much of Saturday "watching TV clips of himself from 2013 criticising President Barack Obama's handling of the last government shutdown".

Back in 2013, Trump had attacked Obama's handling of the shutdown, suggesting that it occurred due to a lack of presidential leadership.

Speaking to Fox News at the time, he said: "Problems start from the top, and they have to get solved from the top, and the president's the leader, and he's got to get everybody in a room, and he's got to lead."

What has caused the shutdown?

Funding in the US for government services requires approval at various stages.

Republicans in the House passed the needed stop-gap for funding legislation, but their colleagues in the upper chamber, the Senate, require support from 10 Democrats. Five Democrats supported the stop-gap, but five Republicans voted against the measures.