Donald Trump may visit UK in lead-up to US elections

Presidential candidates will usually travel abroad during their campaign to showcase their political credentials

File photo taken on May 05, 2016 shows US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump addressing supporters in Eugene, Oregon (AFP or licensors)

The government is preparing for a possible visit from presidential hopeful Donald Trump to the UK, it has emerged.

Presidential candidates will usually go abroad during their campaign and diplomats expect Mr Trump to visit after his formal nomination as the Republican candidate in July, the Guardian reports.

It is understood that no request or offer has yet been made, but nominees traditionally use international visits to showcase their political credentials.

Rumours of a visit also raise the prospect of Mr Trump meeting the Prime Minister as a presidential candidate at Downing Street.

Relations between the UK government and Mr Trump remain icy following discord between the David Cameron and the business tycoon.

Mr Cameron said he still believes Mr Trump’s comments on immigration and Muslims are "divisive, stupid and wrong" - a criticism he made in December when Mr Trump was the front-runner in the Republican presidential race, but not the presumptive candidate.

The hostile relations were asserted by Mr Trump in an interview with ITV’s Good Morning Britain, in which he dismissed Mr Cameron's comments but said it “looks like we’re not going to have a very good relationship”.

“I hope to have a good relationship with him but it sounds like he’s not willing to address the problem either,” he said.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan invited Mr Trump to visit his family in London and learn more about Islam, telling ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “If I can educate the presumptive Republican presidential nominee about Islam, I’m happy to do so.”

Mr Khan had previously declined Mr Trump’s offer of an exception from the proposed ban on Muslims entering America, calling his views on Islam “ignorant.”

Responding Mr Trump said he would “remember those statements”, “they are nasty statements”.

According to the BBC, Government sources say they have attempted for months to convince parts of Whitehall to take Mr Trump more seriously as diplomats in the US and UK discuss the possibility of a Trump visit in the next few months now it is almost certain Mr Trump will be the Republican candidate for the White House.

An Foreign and Commonwealth Office spokeswoman said: “The US and UK will continue to be the closest of partners whomever the American people elect as President.

"Nominees from both the Republican and Democrat parties have previously visited London ahead of US elections. We have always welcomed such visits.”

Past visits by former Republican nominees have not always been a success. In 2012, Mitt Romney visited the US and caused offence by suggesting Britain was not ready for the Olympic Games.

A petition calling for a ban on Mr Trump entering the UK after his call to temporarily ban Muslims entering the US in December amassed 574,000 signatures and the motion was debated by MPs in January.