Donald Trump's embattled Labour Secretary, Alex Acosta, has resigned amid fierce criticism over his handling of a plea deal for financier Jeffrey Epstein in 2007.

Announcing the news on Friday, Mr Trump was eager to emphasise that Mr Acosta had made the decision himself and still had his full backing.

“This was him, not me,” the US president said as he announced the news outside the White House, describing Mr Acosta as a “great, great secretary” and a “tremendous talent”.

Mr Acosta was the US attorney for Southern Florida when, in 2007, Epstein escaped prosecution on federal sex-trafficking charges and was instead allowed to plead guilty to lesser state crimes.

Epstein, who potentially faced a life sentence, was jailed for 13 months but allowed to leave jail for 12 hours, six days a week, to go to work. He was also required to register as a sex offender and compensate his victims.