A demonstrator attempted to set himself on fire outside the Trump International Hotel in Washington DC in protest at the President-elect before his inauguration on Friday.

Police and fire crews in the US capital responded to reports of a man on fire on Tuesday evening outside the hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue, a few blocks from the White House.

The incident happened 24 hours before Donald Trump made a visit to the same hotel.

Unconfirmed reports said the protester shouted “Trump” several times before using a lighter to start the small blaze.

The Trump International Hotel in Washington DC; the President-elect was at the hotel for dinner two days before inauguration (Getty)

The 45-year-old, from California, suffered burns and was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

“I was trying to light myself on fire as an act of protest. Protesting the fact that we have elected somebody who is completely incapable of respecting the constitution of the United States,” he told NBC News.

It is not clear if he intended to set himself alight or was burned in the process of starting the fire.

The DC police department notified the Secret Service although the incoming president was not thought to be in Washington at the time.

A spokesman for the city’s fire department said: “We did arrive and did find a male adult with burns and we transported that patient to an area hospital with potential but not life-threatening burns.”

Security has been ramped up in Washington DC in the run up to Mr Trump’s inauguration.

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On Wednesday evening the President-elect made a surprise visit to his Washington hotel, arriving with a lengthy motorcade for dinner at around 9.30pm.

Mr Trump will return to Washington for good on Thursday but will, as per tradition, stay at Blair House — the president's guest house — the night before his inauguration.