WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump has asked his national security adviser, John Bolton, to invite Russian President Vladimir Putin to Washington in the autumn, the White House said on Thursday.

"President Trump asked Bolton to invite President Putin to Washington in the fall and those discussions are already underway," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said in a tweet.

Yet Sanders said that was "something that would go through the State Department."

The move came amid the rain of domestic criticism over his performance in his first meeting with Putin in Helsinki, and Russia's request to question American citizens including former US ambassador Michael McFaul.