US President Donald Trump’s eldest son Donald Trump Jr. has hit back at reports he met a Kremlin-linked lawyer offering dirt on political opponents, branding the “expose” as a “big yawn”.

The New York Times yesterday reported that Mr Trump Jr. met in June 2016 Russian lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya, who is alleged to have links to the Kremlin, after being promised damaging information about Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton.

After tweeting that he was willing to talk to the Senate committee investigating alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, Mr Trump Jr. then hit back at the Times report, ridiculing it as a “big yawn”.

The Times 'exposé' on Donald Trump Jr. is a big yawn https://t.co/96GiWk87qq via @nypost

— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) July 10, 2017

Mr Trump Jr, with two other close Trump associates – Mr Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and then-campaign chairman, Paul Manafort – met Ms Veselnitskaya, last June at Trump Tower in New York.

On Monday, The Times alleged Mr Trump Jr. had in the space of one day changed his story on the reason for the meeting.

Originally claiming that the meeting was conducted to discuss the issue of adoption of Russian children by US couples, Mr Trump Jr. subsequently gave a different version of his motives.

Mr Trump Jr.’s statement to the news media on Saturday read:

“It was a short introductory meeting. I asked Jared and Paul to stop by. We primarily discussed a program about the adoption of Russian children that was active and popular with American families years ago and was since ended by the Russian government, but it was not a campaign issue at the time and there was no follow up.

“I was asked to attend the meeting by an acquaintance, but was not told the name of the person I would be meeting with beforehand.”

But he then provided a further statement to The Times on Sunday acknowledging that Ms Veselnitskaya offered him information on Ms Clinton but that her statements “made no sense” and the information was not “meaningful”.

“I was asked to have a meeting by an acquaintance I knew from the 2013 Miss Universe pageant with an individual who I was told might have information helpful to the campaign.

I was not told her name prior to the meeting. I asked Jared and Paul to attend, but told them nothing of the substance. We had a meeting in June 2016. After pleasantries were exchanged, the woman stated that she had information that individuals connected to Russia were funding the Democratic National Committee and supporting Ms Clinton.

“Her statements were vague, ambiguous and made no sense. No details or supporting information was provided or even offered. It quickly became clear that she had no meaningful information. She then changed subjects and began discussing the adoption of Russian children and mentioned the Magnitsky Act.

“It became clear to me that this was the true agenda all along and that the claims of potentially helpful information were a pretext for the meeting. I interrupted and advised her that my father was not an elected official, but rather a private citizen, and that her comments and concerns were better addressed if and when he held public office.

“The meeting lasted approximately 20 to 30 minutes. As it ended, my acquaintance apologized for taking up our time. That was the end of it and there was no further contact or follow-up of any kind. My father knew nothing of the meeting or these events.”

Earlier on Monday, a Republican member of the US Senate Intelligence Committee called on Mr Trump Jr to testify to the panel, as allegations of the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia have cast a shadow over his first months in office.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said on Monday there was nothing inappropriate about the meeting with lawyer Ms Veselnitskaya.

In Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday the Kremlin did not know the identity of the Russian lawyer.

“No, we don’t know who it is and, certainly, we cannot track down all movements of all Russian lawyers both within Russia and abroad,” Peskov said.