Trump denies AP report he will visit Jordan this month

U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump answers questions from the media ahead of a campaign stop in Spencer, Iowa December 5, 2015. REUTERS/Mark Kauzlarich

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump denied a report by the Associated Press earlier on Tuesday that he would visit the majority-Muslim kingdom of Jordan at the end of December. Trump said in a tweet: "Despite my great respect for King Abdullah II, I will not be visiting Jordan at this time. This is in response to the false @AP report." Trump, currently the party's front-runner for the November 2016 election, came under criticism from around the world after he called on Monday for a ban on Muslims entering the United States. The AP did not provide a source for its report. (Reporting by Eric Walsh and Eric Beech)