Harsh words for Haiti and African nations from Donald Trump, calling some of them quote "shithole countries."

The comments were made in the White House on Thursday during talks over a new bipartisan immigration deal to protect so-called "Dreamer" immigrants from deportation.

Senators Dick Durbin and Lindsey Graham briefed Trump on the draft in front of other officials.

The lawmakers were apparently describing how certain programs operate including one to give safe haven to people from countries hit by natural disasters or civil conflict.

One of the sources say that Trump then said "Why do we want all these people from Africa here? They're shithole countries ... We should have more people from Norway."

A second source says he then went on to question the need for Haitians in the US.

The programme Trump was briefed on is called Temporary Protected Status.

This week he moved to end that status for 200,000 immigrants from El Salvador.

Lawmakers from both sides slammed the president after his remarks.

Republican Congresswoman Mia Love- a daughter of Haitain immigrants, said the comments were "unkind, divisive, elitist and fly in the face of our nation's values."

In a late-night tweet, Trump hit back at his critics saying, quote "The Democrats seem intent on having people and drugs pour into our country from the Southern border... risking thousands of lives in the process."