David Cameron would be 'very happy' to meet Donald Trump

Updated

The Prime Minister has said he would be "very happy" to meet the controversial US presidential hopeful Donald Trump.

David Cameron insisted he was right to slap down Mr Trump's "very dangerous" comments about Muslims, but said he would meet with any presidential nominee if they were to visit the UK.

It comes after Mr Trump said last week that he has already been invited to Downing Street for talks with the PM.

Mr Trump has seen off the competition in the Republican race but has yet to be formally crowned the official candidate.

Asked by Robert Peston if he would meet Mr Trump ahead of the US election, Mr Cameron said: "I don't know."

He then added: "American presidential candidates have made a habit of coming through Europe and through the UK, so if that happens I'd be very happy to.

"I don't withdraw in any way what I said about the policy of not letting Muslims in to America. I do think that is wrong and divisive.

"We've got to demonstrate that what we're up against here is a very small minority of a minority, Islamist extremists, that want to divide our societies, and we've got to explain that there are billions of people in our world who are devout Muslims but who believe in liberal democracy and all the things we believe in."

He told ITV's Peston on Sunday show: "It's a very dangerous thing to say, I'm making it worse now, it's a dangerous thing to say as well as a divisive and wrong one."

Mr Cameron has faced calls from the Trump camp to apologise after he branded the Republican's call for foreign Muslims to be temporarily banned from entering the US as ''stupid, divisive, and wrong'' in the Commons last December.

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