WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump wants Americans' privacy to be protected and welcomes investigations into reports the Cambridge Analytica consulting firm that he hired to help win the 2016 U.S. election improperly used personal data of 50 million Facebook Inc users, a White House official said on Tuesday.

"The president believes that Americans' privacy should be protected. You know, if Congress wants to look into the matter or other agencies want to look into the matter, we welcome that," White House Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah told Fox News Channel when asked if Facebook's head, Mark Zuckerberg, should testify before Congress about the reports that have angered U.S. lawmakers and international regulators alike.

"Without knowing the specifics, it's difficult to tell whether an individual should testify but we do support the privacy of American citizens."

(Reporting by Lisa Lambert)