Donald Trump on jury service: Republican hopeful to take break from campaign trail

The US Republican candidate will report to a New York City court on Monday

American presidential candidate Donald Trump has been called to do jury service (Getty Images)

US presidential hopeful Donald Trump has been called to do jury service.

The billionaire Republican candidate, who has attracted controversy for his comments on the campaign trail in recent weeks, said he will be taking a break to attend court in New York City on Monday.

He said he is "looking forward to appearing" to perform the public service.

Mr Trump confirmed that he had been summoned on Friday before a campaign rally in New Hampshire, home of the first presidential primary.

The 69-year-old entrepreneur was fined $250 this year for failing to appear for jury service several times in recent years, according to The New York Times.

Michael Cohen, an executive vice president at the Trump Organisation and special counsel to Mr Trump, said he had not appeared because the summonses had been sent to an address where Mr Trump had never lived, meaning he had not received them.

Mr Cohen said the fine had been waived.

“Mr Trump’s failure to appear for previous jury requests was the result of the unified court system’s error in the mailing address and not Mr Trump’s refusal to uphold his civic duty,” he told the newspaper.

“It is impossible to know if you are being asked to serve when the jury selection documents are sent to someone else’s home.”

Former American president George W Bush surprised jurors earlier this month when he turned up for jury service at a court in Dallas, although he was not selected to sit on a jury.

Mr Trump announced his bid for the presidency in June with a commitment to become the “greatest jobs president that God ever created” and with the slogan “we are going to make our country great again”.