Donald Trump, the main supporter of false claims about Barack Obama's birthplace, has finally said he accepts that the president was born in the US, "period".

But Mr Trump also falsely accused Hillary Clinton's team of starting the so-called "birther" campaign in 2008.

The "birther" movement had questioned Hawaii-born Mr Obama's citizenship and therefore his eligibility as president.

Mrs Clinton said Mr Trump had founded his campaign on "this outrageous lie".

Mr Trump said at a campaign event in Washington: "President Barack Obama was born in the United States, period.

"Hillary Clinton and her campaign of 2008 started the birther controversy. I finished it. I finished it. You know what I mean?"

There is no evidence to link Mrs Clinton to the birthers.

Mr Trump's campaign team had earlier also said it was Mrs Clinton's team who had started the rumours in 2008.

Senior Trump adviser Jason Miller said that Mr Trump had brought "this ugly incident to its conclusion" in 2011 by forcing Mr Obama to release his birth certificate.

However, Mr Trump had tweeted in 2012 that an "extremely creditable source" had told his office the certificate was a fraud.

He was also still refusing to say that Mr Obama had been born in Hawaii when questioned on the issue during a Washington Post interview on Thursday.

Analysts say that although the birther issue has not been a major one in this campaign, it continues to rankle with African-Americans, who see it as an attempt to challenge the legitimacy of the country's first black president.

Their vote has been solidly behind Mrs Clinton in opinion polls and Mr Trump needs to court it.