Allies of Theresa May have rejected explosive claims that Donald Trump ‘humiliated and bullied’ her during official phone calls.
Sources close to the former prime minister said a report Mrs May had been left ‘flustered’ during conversations with the US President were ‘utter nonsense’.
However, they conceded that the calls were ‘not always easy, because Theresa sometimes disagreed with him’.
A report published this morning by legendary ‘Watergate’ journalist Carl Bernstein said Mr Trump had labelled Mrs May a ‘fool’ during conversations and had attacked her handling of Brexit negotiations.
The US President is said to have suggested Mrs May, who served as PM from July 2016 to July 2019, had been ‘spineless’ in the UK’s divorce talks with the European Union.
Theresa May and Donald Trump, pictured in Downing Street in June 2019, appeared to have a warm relationship in public but a new report claims the US President ‘bullied’ the then-PM during phone calls
Mr Trump, pictured with Mrs May in the White House Oval Office in January 2017, is said to have called his counterpart a ‘fool’
Sources apparently described the calls between Mr Trump and Mrs May as ‘humiliating and bullying’.
One source said of Mr Trump: ‘He’d get agitated about something with Theresa May, then he’d get nasty with her on the phone call.’
‘It’s the same interaction in every setting — coronavirus or Brexit — with just no filter applied.’
The report claimed Mrs May had been ‘flustered and nervous’ during the calls with a source saying Mr Trump ‘clearly intimidated her and meant to’.
But a source close to Mrs May dismissed the claims, telling MailOnline: ‘The calls were not always easy, because Theresa sometimes disagreed with him.
‘But to say that she was bullied or got flustered is utter nonsense.’
The report published by CNN sets out the details of numerous conversations between Mr Trump and other world leaders.
Mr Trump’s private calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin were said to have the tone of ‘two guys in a steam bath’.
The report suggested that Mr Putin ‘just outplays’ his counterpart during their one-on-one interactions.
During the calls and others with foreign leaders, Mr Trump reportedly regularly tries to tout his own wealth and success in conversations his own aides apparently regard as ‘delusional’.
Along with the claims about calls with Mr Putin and Mrs May, Mr Trump is alleged to have called German Chancellor Angela Merkel ‘stupid’ to her face.
Sources described how former allies of Mr Trump including John Bolton, James Mattis, John Kelly and Rex Tillerson became alarmed by the calls and feared that the President was endangering national security.
The conversations with Mr Putin are part of a web of calls between Mr Trump and the leaders of Australia, Turkey, Canada, Australia and western European countries during his presidency that officials who see call transcripts describe as ‘abominations.’
In the case of Russia, one source voiced fears that Mr Trump was squandering the ‘advantage that was hard won in the Cold War’ by seemingly craving Mr Putin’s approval.
Mr Bernstein said that if the notes and transcripts of the calls were made public, even some of Mr Trump’s Republican allies in Congress would struggle to defend him.
Daniel Goldman, a House lawyer during the Trump impeachment inquiry, said officials had gone to the media with their concerns rather than through the ‘proper channels’ after the US President attacked the whistleblower who first drew attention to the Ukraine scandal.
‘When you take away the proper route through vindictive retribution, you cannot then complain about leaks,’ Mr Goldman said.
Mr Trump won office in 2016 despite media criticism of his repeated praise for Mr Putin, even as Russia was revealed by U.S. intelligence to be orchestrating an election interference and hacking campaign.
In addition to repeatedly referring to his own wealth, as he has done repeatedly in public, Mr Trump would revel in his time running the Miss Universe pageant in Moscow, according to the account.
A source trashed the calls, saying that while Mr Putin destabilises the West, Mr Trump ‘sits there and thinks he can build himself up enough as a businessman and tough guy that Putin will respect him.’
President Donald Trump characterized his predecessors as ‘imbeciles’ and weaklings’ during private calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to a new report by Watergate journalist Carl Bernstein
German chancellor Angela Merkel remained calm in the face of Mr Trump’s alleged aggression during phone calls, sources said (they are pictured together at a G7 summit last year)
The report came out days after the New York Times reported that Mr Trump was briefed on intelligence that Moscow had paid a bounty to Taliban elements for killings of American soldiers.
The White House on Monday denied Mr Trump was briefed about the reported program.
Mr Trump was described as solicitous of Mr Putin in the calls. Mr Putin is known as a crafty former KGB operator who often holds back in televised encounters with counterparts.
Mr Trump would also allegedly boast about his own wealth, intelligence and achievements in office to leaders such as North Korea’s Kim Jong-un and Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed bin Salman.
Two sources said Mr Trump seems ‘delusional’ on his foreign leader calls, which included frequent contact with Turkey’s dictator Recep Tayyip Erdogan – who would allegedly be fast-tracked through to speak to the US President when he called the White House.