Sajid Javid has said he does not know why Theresa May did not invite him to the state banquet with Donald Trump.
The home secretary, who is running to be Conservative Party leader, said on Thursday morning it was “odd” that Downing Street had excluded him.
Asked by BBC Radio 4′s Today programme why he was not in the guest list, he said: “I’ve asked. But I don’t know.
“I don’t like it. My office did ask No.10 and they said ‘no’. So you’d have to ask someone from No.10 whey they made that decision.”
Asked if he had been shut out because of his Muslim heritage, Javid said: “No I’m not saying that at all, I really don’t know.”
Javid has clashed with Trump in the past and criticised him for sharing a Islamophobic posts from Britain First.
Javid was the only holder of a so-called great office of state - prime minister, foreign secretary, home secretary and chancellor - who was not invited.
Environment Secretary Michael Gove and Defence Secretary Penny Mordaunt did receive invites to the lavish dinner hosted by the Queen for the US President earlier this month.
Javid is one of ten candidates in the race to succeed May as Conservative leader and prime minister.
That number will be cut later today as Conservative MPs hold the first ballot. Leadership hopefuls need at least 17 votes to go through to the second round, with anyone below the threshold automatically eliminated.
If all the candidates meet the target, the one with the lowest number of votes overall will still have to exit the race.