KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 30): Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, replying to a question in Parliament on his official trip to the US last month, said he did not pay for the invitation from President Donald Trump.

Najib also dismissed the significance of where he had stayed during the visit after opposition leader Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail asked why he had not been invited to stay at the president's guest house, unlike Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong who was accorded the privilege during an official visit earlier this month.

"Although I did not stay in Blair House, I received an invitation to play golf with President Trump, and he ushered me to the car," Najib said.

"We do not have to go into details in all these things (because) these are not policy-related issues, we got to prioritise policy matters. And in terms of policy matters, we received the highest honour from the US administration," he added.

Wan Azizah also questioned whether Najib and his entourage's stay at the Trump International Hotel in Washington was paid for using taxpayers' money.

He did not confirm whether the expenses were paid for by Putrajaya or the US government, stressing only that he did not pay for the invitation to meet Trump.

"I did not pay anything for the invitation (but) my predecessor did that to get an invitation from President Bush," said Najib.

There had been allegations that former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad paid lobbyists millions of ringgit to arrange a meeting with the then president, George W Bush, in 2002. Mahathir has denied the allegations.

Last week, Minister at Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said had sidestepped questions in Parliament on the funding of Najib's trip.

DAP lawmaker Anthony Loke Siew Fook had sought details of Najib's accommodation cost and the number of rooms reserved during the prime minister's US visit.

In her written response, Azalina said the expenses of Najib's official visit to Washington are in accordance with the Members of Parliament (Remuneration) Act 1980.

"These expenses include flight expenses, accommodation, transportation, food allowances, laundry, telephone and others. The expenses of the prime minister and his delegation are based on a rate fixed from time to time," she said.