Donald Trump, big fan of Joker, hosts screening at White House - report

Donald Trump hosted a screening of Joker in the White House over the weekend for "family, friends and some staff," according to reports.

The current US President and former Celebrity Apprentice star likes the controversial comic book movie, a senior White House reportedly confirmed to Yahoo News.

Trump's private movie-watching session is said to have taken place on Saturday night (local time), in the midst of explosive impeachment hearings which may see him removed from office.

Joker, from The Hangover filmmaker Todd Phillips, tells an origin story for the Batman villain which follows a mentally ill man who carries out horrific acts of violence. It's been criticised for potentially inspiring copycat crimes, allegedly glorifying gun violence and its perceived similarities to the 2012 Aurora mass shooting.

Trump has a long history of association with films, having featured with cameos in many and managing to have his properties featured in many more.

The 73-year-old once suggested that Transformers and The Dark Knight Rises were both highly successful box office hits due to his properties being used in them.

He's reportedly a big fan of 1988 Jean-Claude Van Damme film Bloodsport, which follows a US army captain going AWOL to compete in a brutal underground martial arts tournament in Hong Kong.

Trump also may well have been a Twilight fan, after tweeting several times about the troubled relationship of the actors who played Edward and Bella.

"Robert Pattinson should not take back Kristen Stewart. She cheated on him like a dog and will do it again - just watch. He can do much better!" he tweeted in 2012.

In one of his many follow-up tweets, Trump suggested Pattinson would reconsider his relationship with Stewart if he "saw the Miss Universe girls".

Trump has not yet tweeted about Joker, which recently became the first R-rated film to make more than US$1 billion at the global box office.