Pelosi accuses Trump of endangering her life

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi accused President Donald Trump of leaking details of a planned trip to Afghanistan with a congressional delegation, thereby endangering the lives of US troops and civilians in Afghanistan.

Pelosi was preparing to travel to Afghanistan on a commercial flight after Trump banned her from using a military plane, but decided Friday to postpone her trip after the administration leaked its plans, her office said.

A White House official dismissed the charges, which come amid rising tensions between Trump and Pelosi with the partial closure of the government on its 28th day.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said the administration was only trying to keep Pelosi in the United States so negotiations could be held to end the four-week partial closure, becoming the longest in American history.

"If she leaves the country, it will prevent negotiations at the beginning of the week, which means that 800,000 federal employees will not get paid, because they will not be here to contribute to an agreement," she told reporters.

But Democrats said no negotiations were under way. "We have not received any request for the meeting from the White House," Pelosi's spokesman Drew Hamel said.

The Trump administration prevented all members of Congress from traveling on aircraft owned or operated by the Government throughout the closure.

"I am sorry to inform you that your trip to Brussels, Egypt and Afghanistan has been postponed," Trump told a House of Representatives opposition speaker on Thursday.

"I am sure you will agree that postponing this public relations round is an appropriate one."

Pelosi's office was preparing for a commercial flight, an idea put forward by Trump himself. But on Friday morning he announced the postponement of the visit because the administration leaked details that might jeopardize the trip or troops that the speaker of the House of Representatives planned to visit at risk.

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"We received a report from Afghanistan that the president - by announcing our visit - made the situation on the ground more dangerous, because that was a signal to the malicious parties that we were coming," Pelosi told reporters at Congress.

"We never declare in advance that we are going to a combat zone, we never do, perhaps the president's lack of experience behind his lack of understanding of this protocol, people around him should have known this because he is very dangerous."

"As a former member of the intelligence committee who traveled to Iraq and Afghanistan, it is shameful and dangerous to disclose the travel of any members to a war zone," said Rep. Jan Shakowski.

A White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, denied that the US administration leaked Pelosi's plans. "When the speaker of the House of Representatives and some 20 others from Congress decide to book commercial flights to Afghanistan, the world will find out," he said.

The White House went up in a row with lawmakers on Friday, with the Office of Management and Budget that Congress is not allowed to travel unless the House of Representatives obtained the approval of the White House for these flights or pay for themselves.