Trump urged Spain to build a border wall across the Sahara desert: foreign minister

A high-ranking Spanish official says President Donald Trump offered an odd suggestion for helping to halt the arrival of migrants to the European country.

Foreign minister Josep Borrell revealed that Trump urged Spain to adopt a solution similar to his own signature campaign proposal, reported El País.

"Build a wall in the Sahara," Trump suggested, according to the Spanish official.

The Spanish delegation expressed skepticism, but the U.S. president pressed on.

"The border with the Sahara can not be bigger than ours with Mexico," Trump argued.

Borrell made clear to the newspaper that he disagreed with Trump's suggestion but believed something must be done to slow migration from Africa.

"European societies are not structured to absorb more than a certain percentage of migrants, especially if they are Muslims," Borrell said.

Borrell did not specify when or where Trump made the suggestion.