Donald Trump denies being a racist after offensive comments

US President Donald Trump has denied he is a racist, in the wake of recent offensive comments about Haiti and African nations.

The president addressed the issue as he arrived for dinner at his private golf club with the House majority leader Kevin McCarthy of California.

Asked what he thinks about people who think he is racist, he said: “No, No. I am not a racist.”

“I am the least racist person you have ever interviewed. That I can tell you,” he told reporters.

It is the first time he has responded directly to the racism accusations.

Trump has been accused of used the word “shithole” to describe African countries during an Oval Office meeting last Thursday with a bipartisan group of six senators.

"Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?" he reportedly said.

The president also questioned the need to admit more Haitians to the US, according to people who were briefed on the conversation but were not authorized to describe the meeting publicly. "Haitians? Do we need more Haitians?"

Trump also said in the meeting that he would prefer immigrants from countries such as Norway instead.

Trump on Sunday denied making the statements attributed to him, but didn’t get into specifics about what he did or did not say.

“Did you see what various senators in the room said about my comments?” he asked. “They weren’t made.”

The president tweeted on Friday morning that the language he used in the meeting was "tough" but disputed the wording of the reports.

The language used by me at the DACA meeting was tough, but this was not the language used. What was really tough was the outlandish proposal made - a big setback for DACA!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 12, 2018

Several senior Republican lawmakers at the meeting, including Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, have said they do not recall Mr Trump making the remark.

But another Republican senator who was there, Lindsey Graham, did not deny the comments were made.

"Following comments by the president, I said my piece directly to him yesterday. The president and all those attending the meeting know what I said and how I feel," he said.

House Speaker Paul Ryan, a senior Republican, said that Donald Trump's immigration comments were "very unfortunate" and "unhelpful".