Donald Trump calls lawyer 'disgusting' for stopping lawsuit testimony to breastfeed her newborn child

The businessman is the Republican presidential front-runner

Donald Trump hopes to become US president (Getty)

Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump has become embroiled in fresh controversy, after it emerged he called a woman “disgusting” for pausing a court case to breastfeed her newborn baby.

Trump is reported to have made the jibe in 2011 while testifying during a deposition over a failed real estate project in Florida, which saw home buyers forfeit their down payments and allegedly lose tens of thousands of dollars.

Some two hours into the session, lawyer Elizabeth Beck requested a medical break. When the tycoon and his lawyers objected, Ms Beck drew out a breast pump to stress that she needed to feed her three-month-old daughter, the New York Times reported.

“You’re disgusting,” Mr Trump is alleged to have said, and left the room, ending an episode which neither party has denied, according to the US newspaper.

Trump's lawyer Alan Garten told the New York Daily News that his client's reaction was "solely [due to] the fact that she was appearing to do it in the middle of a deposition".

"That is what led to his remark," he said.

The incident was among a series of lawsuits involving Mr Trump since 2007, which the New York Times has said gives and insight into the businessman’s shrewd attitude.

In another meeting with Ms Beck, Mr Trump told her to “congratulate” her and her husband’s clients because they would have lost more money if the housing project had continued past the financial crisis.

Mr Garten told the New York Times the documents show his client "is a determined businessman who stands up for what he believes, speaks his mind and talks from the heart".

Mr Trump’s bid for GOP candidacy has been littered with controversial statements, including his description of Mexicans entering the country illegally as “rapists” and “murderers” and suggestion that an impenetrable wall should be built on the US-Mexico border.

However, he remains the favourite among party supporters, according to a recent poll by CNN/ORC.

Statistics show Mr Trump has received more broadcast news coverage since the beginning of June than all of the other candidates combined.

The ABC, CBS and NBC evening newscasts spent 114 minutes on campaign coverage from the beginning of June through the end of last week, and Mr Trump was the focus of 60 of them, according to statistics offered by Andrew Tyndall, a consultant who studies the content of evening news bulletins.

Additional reporting by AP