President Donald Trump says he wants immigrants to come to the U.S. from "everywhere," despite having said behind closed doors that he'd prefer more immigrants from countries like Norway and not Africa.

Trump was responding to questions as he met with Kazakhstan's president Nursultan Nazarbayev at the White House on Tuesday.

Trump said: "We want 'em to come in from everywhere, everywhere."

Trump was meeting with lawmakers about a potential deal on immigration last week when he questioned why the U.S. should admit more people from Africa and Haiti. Trump also expressed a preference for immigrants from countries like Norway, which is overwhelmingly white.

That's according to Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin, who attended, and others who were briefed on the conversation but were not authorized to describe it publicly.