Donald Trump secretly reaches out to Muslim groups for support in US election

Donald Trump's campaign team has reportedly been reaching out to Muslim and Middle Eastern groups in the US to win their support ahead of the presidential election in November.

The Republican presumptive candidate has made no public attempts to win over Muslims, openly speaking of banning non-US Muslims from entering the country.

But top national security adviser for Trump, Walid Phares, told The Hill he had been "quietly" reaching out to Muslim and Middle Eastern voters on behalf of the GOP candidate, who wanted to garner their support – adding the majority of conversations he had were initiated by curious Muslims.

"Most of those who reached out said they want to support Mr Trump, but they're not clear about some of the statements he's made," Phares told the politics publication.

"These people know what they want – they're concerned about the well-being of their communities and believe that Trump has the right economic and social agenda," he continued. "But they're trying to get a handle on how he'll deal with the Middle East."

The move comes as Trump has faced criticism over his hard line on Muslims entering the US, U-turning over how the policy would work in practice.

At the beginning of the month, Trump said new London mayor Sadiq Khan could be an exception to the Muslim travel ban he proposes, also stating the ban would be "a temporary measure".

However, following the EgyptAir crash, Trump was quick to use his proposed Muslim ban as a tool with which to beat his rival, Democrat front runner Hillary Clinton.

While Trump took to social media to display a "tough on terror" stance, Clinton said his anti-Muslim policy would exacerbate issues between the US and majority Muslim nations – to which Trump responded her thoughts on the Muslim ban prove she is unfit to be president.