Donald Trump's border wall given funding go-ahead

President Donald Trump has been given the go-ahead to use $2.5bn (£2bn) of military budget on a section of wall on the U.S- Mexico border.

A court had previously ruled that money from The Pentagon - the US department in charge of national security and the American military forces - could not be used on the wall.

But the US Supreme Court, the nation's highest court, blocked the ruling. This allows the money to be used for wall projects in California, Arizona and New Mexico.

The administration says will be used to construct more than 100 miles of fencing.

Mr Trump declared an emergency earlier this year, saying he needed $6.7bn to build the wall as a matter of national security. The cost of a barrier along the whole 2,000 miles (3,200km) of border is estimated to be $23bn.

The decision is a big victory for Mr Trump as the building of a border wall was a major campaign promise of his during the 2016 presidential election.

The president has argued that a new wall would help to curb illegal immigration, which he says is fuelling crime and placing a strain on the economy.

Democrats say they are in favour of border security but the wall would be expensive and ineffective. Some say he has made the situation seem worse than it is in order to get around the rules and get money for the wall.