Donald Trump has waded into the row over Obamacare once again, this time by suggesting that a "good shutdown" would help "fix the mess" in Washington.

Efforts in recent weeks and months have failed to get the votes to pass through a new health care act as part of Trump's plans to "repeal and replace" Obamacare.

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Over two tweets, Trump said: "The reason for the plan negotiated between the Republicans and Democrats is that we need 60 votes in the Senate which are not there! We either elect more Republican Senators in 2018 or change the rules now to 51%. Our country needs a good 'shutdown' in September to fix mess!"

A US government shutdown was narrowly avoided on Monday when they managed to agree on a spending bill to see the country through to September.

A government shutdown occurs when most services would stop except those deemed "essential", such as national security work performed by the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI.

According to Standard and Poor's, the 16-day shutdown in October 2013 cost the US $24bn (£18.5bn, €22bn).

In March, Republicans called off a vote after divisions within the party made it clear that they didn't have enough votes to pass it.

This week, fresh attempts have been made to corral support with Vice President Mike Pence doing the rounds at Capitol Hill. But the divisions appear to be just as entrenched as before, making it unlikely that a breakthrough can be made.

Donald Trump