President Donald Trump has defended sharing  classified information with Russian officials, saying he had the "absolute right" to do so for "humanitarian reasons" and because he wants Russia to step up its fight against Isil.

The US president was accused of revealing  highly classified information to the Russian foreign minister and ambassador during a meeting at the White House last week, it was reported on Monday night.

The Trump administration immediately rejected the claims as "false", while several Republicans and Democrats expressed alarm that a US president could share high-level intelligence with Russia

"As President I wanted to share with Russia (at an openly scheduled W.H. metting) which I have the absolute right to do, facts pertaining to terrorism and airline flight safety," he wrote in a tweet.

See tweets below: