Donald Trump signs deal ending longest government shutdown in US history

United States President Donald Trump has signed the deal bringing the government shutdown to an end, news agency AFP reported. 

President Donald Trump said Friday he will temporarily end the government shutdown, while dropping his previous insistence on immediate funding for wall construction along the Mexican border.

The announcement in the White House Rose Garden on the bipartisan deal marked a retreat by Trump, suspending a political row that has paralyzed Washington, disrupted air travel and left more than 800,000 federal employees without pay for five weeks, AFP reported. 

The top Democratic senator, Chuck Schumer, said he hoped Trump had "learned his lesson."

The Senate and House of Representatives both passed the deal by unanimous consent Friday, sending it to the president for his signature.

Trump's reversal came as the full weight of the shutdown, including the financial cost on struggling employees and the national economy, became ever more apparent to the administration and power brokers in Washington, and as the president appeared outfoxed by his political nemesis Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic speaker of the House.

However, just a few hours before signing the deal, Trump took to Twitter suggesting that the move "in no way" is a "concession". "It was taking care of millions of people who were badly hurt by the shutdown," the tweet read. 

The US President also tweeted out a possibility of renewing the shutdown within 21 days "if no deal is done". 

"I wish people would read or listen to my words on the Border Wall. This was in no way a concession. It was taking care of millions of people who were getting badly hurt by the Shutdown with the understanding that in 21 days, if no deal is done, it’s off to the races!" he tweeted. 

Trump triggered the shutdown in December as a way of putting pressure on congressional Democrats after they refused his wall funding demand.

(With inputs from AFP)