Trump Now Wants To Explore 'a Better' TPP Deal

President Donald Trump has directed senior aides to explore re-joining the 11-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership if a "better deal" can be reached, the White House said.

The decision, which was welcomed by lawmakers from agricultural states, could mark an abrupt about-face for a president who had campaigned against the deal and swiftly withdrew from it after taking office last year.

But the White House was quick to point out that Trump's decision, rather than a flip-flop, was consistent with earlier statements.

"Last year, the President kept his promise to end the TPP deal ... because it was unfair to American workers and farmers," Deputy White House Press Secretary Lindsay Walters said.

However, he "has consistently said he would be open to a substantially better deal, including in his speech in Davos earlier this year".

To that end, he has asked US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and top economic adviser Larry Kudlow "to take another look at whether or not a better deal could be negotiated", she said.

Trump has frequently disparaged multilateral trade deals, calling the 24-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement a "disaster".

His most hawkish trade advisers, who now dominate his cabinet after high-level departures, have expressed a strong preference for negotiating bilateral agreements, which they say play to US advantages. (AFP)