Trump 'bullied' Theresa May, called Angela Merkel 'stupid': officials

New York: Donald Trump regularly "bullied and humiliated" Theresa May on phone calls, calling her a "fool" and "spineless" on Brexit, according to officials privy to the conversations.

The US President reportedly attacked the then Prime Minister for her stance on the EU, NATO, immigration, and other issues the pair disagreed on.

US President Donald Trump and then British Prime Minister Theresa May. Credit: Bloomberg

The details of the conversations have been published by Carl Bernstein, one of two reporters who broke the Watergate Scandal, quoting White House and intelligence officials who are aware of the contents of Trump's calls with world leaders.

"He'd get agitated about something with Theresa May, then he'd get nasty with her on the phone call," Bernstein wrote for CNN, quoting an official who described the verbal assaults as "near-sadistic".

"It's the same interaction in every setting with just no filter applied," one of the sources said.

Trump's relationship with May was notoriously fraught, with both taking vastly different approaches to issues which once bonded the two countries. Observers described the "special relationship" during May tenure at No. 10 from 2016 to 2019, as arguably at its lowest point since the Suez Crisis of 1956.

Bernstein reported, Trump was unprepared, easily manipulated, abusive to allies, and simply idiotic, to the point where senior officials believe he is "delusional" and "a danger to the national security of the United States".

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Prime Minister Scott Morrison, US President Donald Trump and then UK PM Theresa May during the 'family photo' at the G20 Summit in Osaka. Trump is said to be deferential to Erdogan and Vladimir Putin, but brutal with May.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Some of Bernstein's sources' stories are merely vulgar, such as when he told German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has a PhD in quantum chemistry, that she's "stupid". But when it comes to Vladimir Putin, aides described Trump as "inordinately solicitous of Putin's admiration and seemingly seeking his approval". He was cordial, even reverential, also to Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

"Some of the things he said to Angela Merkel are just unbelievable: he called her 'stupid', and accused her of being in the pocket of the Russians," an unnamed official said.

"He's toughest [on the phone] with those he looks at as weaklings and weakest with the ones he ought to be tough with". While the insults were "water off a duck's back" for Merkel, May became "flustered and nervous" on the calls. "He clearly intimidated her and meant to," they said.

Trump was also said to have resisted asking Merkel - at the UK's urging - to publicly hold Putin accountable for the Salisbury poisonings of Sergei Skripal, the former Russian spy, and Yulia, his daughter.

The claims made to Bernstein, a former Washington Post reporter who together with Bob Woodward revealed scandals that led to the resignation of Richard Nixon as president, were similar to some made in former national security adviser John Bolton's new book.

However, the phone calls described to CNN cover a far longer period than Bolton's White House stint and are much more comprehensive, according to Bernstein.

Bolton also noticed his former boss was much harsher with female leaders. Sky News asked him recently if he thought the President was sexist. "I don't know what the issue is but time and again we ran into that difficulty," he answered.

Asked to comment on Trump's behaviour in calls with May, Downing Street referred reporters to its website, which lists brief descriptions of the content of some of the calls.

Bolton, conversely, claimed Boris Johnson, whom Trump sees as a natural ally, played the President "like a fiddle".

Bernstein reported that on calls with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Kim Jong-un, the North Korean dictator, the US President "boasted" about his own personal wealth, while conversations with the Russian President sounded like "two guys in a steam bath".

Friends: Under Vladimir Putin, Russia has turned away from liberalism. Donald Trump, meanwhile, shows contempt for liberal norms such as a free press and an independent judicial system.Credit: AP

Trump reportedly "almost never" read the briefing materials prepared for him in advance of the calls.

The news came as a judge in New York issued a temporary restraining order against a book written by Trump's niece, Mary. Her book, which is due to be published next month, presents an unflattering account of life in the Trump family, and features the President and his father, Fred.

The order prevents Simon & Schuster, the publisher, from circulating the book in any form until a permanent decision is made.

The Telegraph, London; The Washington Post