US president Donald Trump dropped a plan to host next year’s G7 meeting at his own resort in Miami after being “surprised” at the level of criticism he received, Mick Mulvaney, the president’s chief of staff, said on Sunday.

“At the end of the day the president still considers himself to be in the hospitality business and he saw an opportunity to take the biggest leaders from around the world and he wanted to put on the absolute best show, the best visit that he possibly could, and he was very comfortable doing that at Doral,” he told Fox News Sunday.

Mr Trump tweeted on Saturday night that he would not use his Doral golf course in Florida for the international summit next year, just two days after his chief of staff announced the luxury resort had been chosen as the venue. The choice revived longstanding accusations that the president was using his office to boost his business interests, in contravention of the US constitution.