A senior Republican asked aides to pick out Donald Trump’s favourite flavours of Starburst and send them to him as a gift.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy noticed the President only ate the strawberry and cherry flavours of the fruit chews while the pair travelled together on Air Force One in October.

“We’re there, having a little dessert, and he offers me some,” he told the Washington Post. “Just the red and the pink. A bit later, a couple of his aides saw me with those colours and told me, ‘Those are the president’s favourites.’”

Mr McCarthy, who has formed a close alliance with Mr Trump since he entered the White House, later bought “a plentiful supply” of the sweets and asked a staffer to sort the President’s favourite flavours into a jar, the newspaper reported.

The number two Republican in the House ensured his name was on the side of the gift, which was delivered to a beaming Mr Trump, according to an unnamed White House official.

The gesture has been seen by some as indicative of the Mr McCarthy’s attempts to curry favour with the President.

“He remembers everything,” the Californian said. “Of course I put my name on the jar.”

Mr McCarthy and Mr Trump are said to have bonded during late-night phone calls near the end of last year’s presidential campaign.

While many senior Republicans were publicly distancing themselves from the party’s candidate, Mr McCarthy offered political advice and support. Mr Trump began to refer to him as “my Kevin”.

The House leader was by the President’s side as he insisted to reporters he was “the least racist person you’ve ever interviewed” on Sunday, before the pair went for dinner at his private golf club.

Donald Trump: I am the least racist person you've ever interviewed

The details of the Starburst story are the latest titbits to emerge about the President’s particular dietary preferences.

According to Michael Wolff’s book Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House, the American leader likes to eat at McDonald’s because he has “a longtime fear of being poisoned”.

His go-to order at the fast-food restaurant is “two Big Macs, two Fillet-O-Fish, and a chocolate malted”, aides have previously said.