The White House has stated that all the women who have accused US President Donald Trump of sexual harassment are lying, The Independent reported.

When posed the question by CBS about the 16 women who have accused the president – and whether the official position of the White House was that they were lying – Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said: “Yeah, we’ve been clear on that from the beginning and the president has spoken on it.”

Trump addressed the accusations last week, and dismissed them as “totally fake news.. It’s fake, it’s made-up stuff. And it’s disgraceful what happens.” The accusations began to surface after the now-infamous “Access Hollywood” audio surfaced ahead of the presidential election in July 2016.

In the audio, Trump can be heard speaking with Entertainment Tonightprogramme host Billy Bush, speaking disrespectfully about women saying, “When you’re a celebrity, they let you do anything.” At least 11 women came forward after that that audio emerged alleging the president touched or kissed them without consent.

Trump, at the time, said the accusations were “total fiction”, and said he was the actual victim of one of “great political smear campaigns in the history of our country,” implying that his opposing political party was involved in the allegations.

The issue has resurfaced in light of several allegations against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein and former MSNBC political analyst Mark Halperin. He has since been removed by the board of The Weinstein Company, the production house led by Harvey and his brother Bob Weinstein.

Trump’s favoured television news network Fox News has also been hit with several women accusing hosts of sexual harassment, claims which have