Obama believes Americans won't elect Trump

Washington: President Barack Obama believes Americans would not elect Donald Trump as his successor as they know that there are "global consequences" of the remarks coming from presidential candidates, the White House said on Tuesday.

"There are global consequences for arguments that are made by domestic politicians. In the same way that the President has sought to reassure the American public that he does not believe Mr Trump will be elected president...," White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters.

Responding to questions from reporters on Trump's campaigning style, Earnest said Obama has said on a couple of occasions in public that he does not believe that Trump will be elected president or commander-in-chief.

"I think the American people understand that when they're electing a president that they need to elect somebody with discipline and with judgement and with wisdom, and a willingness to understand that their public comments will have significant consequences," he said, apparently referring to 69-year-old real estate tycoon's anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant rhetoric.

"And understanding how closely watched one?s words and actions are when you're the commander-in-chief is something I think most voters understand. And I think that is certainly an important part of why the President has confidence that if Mr Trump is the Republican nominee he will not win the general election," Earnest said.

"There's no denying that one of the reasons there is so much energy at these events is that you have an aspiring political leader inflaming tensions and appealing to people?s darker impulses, and trying to capitalise on their anxieties to provide energy to his campaign," he said.

"And that is certainly not the approach that President Obama has taken throughout his campaigns. The President certainly does not believe that that is a tactic that political leaders in this country should support," he said.