Trump today - as it happened: African nations demand US President apologises for 's***hole remarks'

Republican says he will not be coming to the UK amid criticism of his alleged comments about Haiti and other countries

Trump referred to Haitians and Africans as coming from ‘s***hole countries’

Donald Trump was embroiled in a row extending half-way around the world after reportedly using the term “shithole countries” to describe Haiti, El Salvador and unspecified African nations in a White House meeting about immigration.

Seeking to limit the fallout from the reported comments, the US President described his language as “tough” but denied using a vulgar slur.

The controversy came as he announced he was cancelling his visit to the UK and will now not be travelling London as expected to open the new US embassy next month.

Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, said the US President had backed down in the face of huge public opposition in Britain and the likelihood of widespread protests.

Mr Trump is quoted as having asked: “Why are we having all these people from s***hole countries come here?"

The Republican said he had cancelled his London visit because of his opposition to the decision to move the US Embassy from Mayfair to Battersea.

MPs did not rush to express their disappointment, with many suggesting the real reason for the cancellation was British public opposition to the visit.

Former Labour leader Ed Miliband wrote in a tweet to Mr Trump: "It's because nobody wanted you to come. And you got the message."

Key Points

Donald Trump cancels planned trip to UK, citing embassy move

[12 January 2018 16:29 · Kristin Hugo]

And here's Jon Sharman's full story on Donald Trump's denial over the language he used to describe developing countries:

[12 January 2018 17:01 · Kristin Hugo]

Fox News may be defending Mr Trump, but former Mexico President Vincent Fox Quesada is taking him to task:

[12 January 2018 17:42 · Kristin Hugo]

Cookbook author and Mark Bittman has weighed in on the situation in Haiti, praising the people and insulting President Donald Trump.

[12 January 2018 18:00 · Kristin Hugo]

President Donald Trump has left an event honoring civil rights icon Martin Luther to shouted questions from the press.

"Mr President, are you a racist?!" reporters could he heard asking.

Our report:

[12 January 2018 19:19 · Kristin Hugo]

Former Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele says that President Donald Trump's comments about "s***hole countries" are proof he's racist.

[12 January 2018 19:47 · Kristin Hugo]

A US embassy spokesperson has defended the decision to change embassy locations in London,  which President Donald Trump had blamed on his cancelled trip to the UK.

Per PA:

"In 2007, the Department developed a plan to finance a new embassy project through a property swap for existing US government property in London."

"This solution allowed construction of a new chancery that meets all security standards, yet used no taxpayer dollars to fund the project."

"The project budget was approximately 1 billion dollars (£730 million) and includes the site purchase, design and construction costs."

"The project has been executed within the established budget. The search for a new embassy site in London considered more than 50 sites."

"A multi-disciplinary team of professionals considered over 170 criteria, to include physical security requirements, and determined that the Nine Elms site was the best overall location for the US government."

"The new US embassy in London will open for business on Tuesday January 16."

[12 January 2018 20:42 · Kristin Hugo]

Idioms can be tough to translate. Here's a round-up of how countries around the world have attempted to express President Donald Trump's "s***hole" comments.

[12 January 2018 21:35 · Kristin Hugo]

Here's the latest from the African Union after President Donald Trump's reported "s***hole countries" comments.

[13 January 2018 00:19 · Tom Batchelor]

[13 January 2018 00:19 · Tom Batchelor]

And that's it for today's coverage. Thanks for reading.