US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi told fellow Democrats during a closed-door meeting that President Donald Trump should be sent to "prison," according to US media.

Pelosi, the leading Democrat in Congress, said she would prefer to see the Republican president go to prison rather than to launch impeachment proceedings against him, Politico reported Thursday.

Pelosi has resisted calls to open an impeachment inquiry into Trump, saying it is a deeply divisive action that would harm Democratic candidates at next year’s US presidential election.

In a meeting Tuesday in the lower chamber of Congress, she clashed with House Judiciary Committee chairman Jerry Nadler over whether to begin an impeachment inquiry, according to Politico, which cited multiple Democratic sources familiar with the meeting.

"I don�t want to see him impeached, I want to see him in prison," Pelosi said at the meeting.

Pelosi prefers to see Trump lose the 2020 election and then face prosecution for his alleged crimes, the sources told the US media outlet.

Many Democrats believe Trump broke the law by allegedly seeking to obstruct investigations into Russia�s alleged meddling in the 2016 US election.

He is also accused of violating constitutional prohibitions on presidents receiving financial benefits from foreign governments, and of paying pre-election hush money to two women who claimed to have had affairs with Trump.

But Pelosi has argued that launching an impeachment inquiry should only be done if there is sufficient public support and significant bipartisan backing.

Polls show a majority of Americans currently oppose impeachment, and to date only one House Republican has expressed support for removing the president.

Pelosi stresses need for strong case to impeach Trump

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi stresses need for strong case against Trump to impeach him.

Pelosi has toughened her language about the president in recent weeks. She has said Trump "is engaged in a cover-up" and that his staff and family should stage an "intervention" with the president.

Trump hit back at Pelosi on Thursday, calling her a "nasty, vindictive, horrible person."

"I call her nervous Nancy," Trump told Fox News. "Nancy Pelosi is a disaster.... And let her do what she wants. You know what, I think they�re in big trouble."

"I actually don�t think she�s a talented person," Trump said. "I�ve tried to be nice to her because I would�ve liked to have gotten some deals done. She�s incapable of doing deals."