President Donald Trump has said for the first time that he is willing to speak to Robert Mueller, saying that he is "looking forward to it".

Speculation has been growing for several weeks that Mr Mueller, the special counsel appointed to investigate Russian meddling in the US election, was seeking to speak to Mr Trump.

Mr Trump's lawyers were reportedly informed back in December that Mr Mueller was going to request an interview.

Whenever Mr Trump or Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, was asked if he was willing to talk to Mr Mueller, they gave only non-committal answers.

Earlier this week Politico reported that aides of Mr Trump were attempting to negotiate a combination of written answers and face-to-face questions.