Donald Trump has said he may be open to rejoining the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), in a major U-turn having pulled out of the planned Asia-Pacific trade pact just last year.

The US president told economic adviser Larry Kudlow and US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to explore re-entering the trade pact at a White House meeting with senators, governors and congressmen from US farm states.

"He multiple times reaffirmed the point that TPP might be easier to join now," Senator Ben Sasse told reporters after the meeting, adding that the president told Mr Kudlow to "get it done".

A move to enter the TPP would be in stark contrast to Mr Trump's position last year, when he called the pact an "attack on America's business", withdrawing from the planned deal within three days of being in office.

During the 2016 campaign he called the agreement a "rape of our country".

The U-turn, though, comes at a time of increasing tensions between China and the US – a factor which may make entering the TPP more attractive for the Trump administration.

The deal, between 11 nations on both sides of the Atlantic, excludes China, and was set up in part to curb China's dominance in Asia.