Donald Trump asked Nancy Pelosi if they could “work something out” hours before the House speaker announced a formal impeachment probe, according to reports.

In a phone call on Tuesday, the US president is said to have enquired if they could “do something about this whistleblower complaint,” a reference to allegations that he pressured Ukraine to look for dirt on his political rival Joe Biden.

The Democrat quickly shot down Mr Trump’s plea, according to NBC News political correspondent Heidi Przybyla, who said she had seen a transcript of the conversation.

She told MSNBC’s The Beat with Ari Melber: “The president actually said to Nancy Pelosi: ‘Hey, can we do something about this whistleblower complaint? Can we work something out?’

“And she said: ‘Yes, you can tell your people to obey the law.’ So she quickly swatted that down and made it clear it is full steam ahead.”

AFP/Getty Images

Later on Tuesday, Ms Pelosi announced that Democrats were pushing ahead with an official impeachment inquiry. The speaker, who has long resisted calls from some members of her party to launch such an investigation, said Mr Trump had crossed a line by allegedly asking Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky to probe discredited corruption claims about Mr Biden’s son.

The US president’s conversation with Mr Zelensky in July came days after he had personally ordered his staff to withhold nearly $400m (£320m) in military aid to Ukraine, it emerged on Monday.

“The president must be held accountable. No one is above the law,” Ms Pelosi said in a statement announcing the impeachment probe.

The White House subsequently authorised the release of a “fully declassified and unredacted” transcript of his call to the Ukrainian leader. It will be made public on Wednesday.

Mr Trump president has admitting bringing up Mr Biden, one of the Democratic 2020 election frontrunners, during the call but insisted the conversation was “totally appropriate”.

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The leaders' discussion about the former vice-president came to light after a complaint was lodged by an intelligence service whistleblower.

The White House initially resisted calls to provide details of the complaint to congress but has now said it will be released on Thursday after it has been reviewed for classified material.

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