Former White House aide Omarosa Manigault has confirmed that President Donald Trump called certain African nations “s***hole countries" during an immigration meeting earlier this year.

Ms Manigault – a former star of Mr Trump’s reality show “The Apprentice” and a one-time assistant to the president – confirmed the remarks in a tweet during Mr Trump’s press conference with Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari.

Asked about the comments during the press conference, Mr Buhari said he was “not sure about … the validity of whether that allegation against the president is true or not”.

"So the best thing for me is to keep quiet,” he added.

Mr Trump did not deny making the comments, as he has done previously, instead saying that Mr Buhari “knows me and he knows where I'm coming from”.

He added: "And you do have some countries that are in very bad shape and very tough places to live in."

Shortly thereafter, Ms Monigault tweeted at the Nigerian president: “FYI he said it.”

Democratic Senator Dick Durbin said he heard Mr Trump make the derogatory comment during a meeting about immigration this January.

Asked about protections for immigrants from multiple different countries – including Haiti, El Salvador, and several African nations – Mr Durbin said the president responded: “Why are we having all these people from s***hole countries come here?”

Mr Durbin’s account of the meeting sparked international outcry, with everyone from Haiti’s former prime minister to the UN Human Rights Commissioner condemning the alleged remarks.

Mr Trump denied making the comments, tweeting that he had “never said anything derogatory about Haitians other than Haiti is, obviously, a very poor and troubled country”.

Trump kicks CNN reporter out of Oval Office for s***hole countries question

Ms Manigault left the Trump administration in December. She later claimed to have seen things in the White House that made her “uncomfortable”.

“As the only African American woman in this White House as a senior staff and assistant to the President, I have seen things that have made me uncomfortable, that have upset me, that have affected me deeply and emotionally,” she told ABC’s “Good Morning America”.

During Mr Buhari’s visit on Monday, Mr Trump said the two men had “developed a great relationship”. He added that they planned to discuss a major military equipment trade deal and the issue of terrorism.