U.S. President Donald Trump shouts to answer reporters' questions over the helicopter noise as he departs for a weekend retreat with his cabinet at Camp David, from the White House in Washington, U.S., September 8, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday that he will ask the Republican-controlled Congress to further speed up its efforts to overhaul the U.S. tax code, citing the potential impact of Hurricane Irma as a reason to hasten reforms.

"I think now with what's happened with the hurricane, I'm going to ask for a speedup. I wanted a speedup anyway, but now we need it even more so," the president said at the outset of a Cabinet meeting at Camp David. The White House released a video of his remarks.

Trump urged Congress in a Friday tweet not to wait until the end of September for tax legislation.

(Reporting by David Morgan and Jeff Mason; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)