Francois Hollande mocks Donald Trump by inviting him to Disneyland Paris

US President needs to visit theme park so he 'understands what France is'

French President Francois Hollande has mocked Donald Trump for insulting the country’s capital city, saying he would invite him to Disneyland Paris so he “understands what France is”.

The US leader insinuated the French capital was no longer a safe destination for US tourists in a speech delivered at the Conservative Political Action Conference, when he referred his friend "Jim", who he said frequently visited the French city, but has not been for the past four or five years.

Criticising Europe's handling of terrorism, he said that Americans could not let similar attacks happen in the US. "Take a look at what's happening to our world folks and we have to be smart," he said. "We have to be smart. We can't let it happen to us.”

Without mentioning Mr Trump's name, Mr Hollande said during a visit to the tourist destination: “I may send a special ticket to one of them, so that he at least comes to Euro Disney and understands what France is.”

At a separate appearance at an agriculture fair in Paris, Mr Hollande called for the US President to support American allies.

“There is terrorism and we must fight it together,” he said. “I think that it is never good to show the smallest defiance toward an allied country.

“I wouldn't do it with the United States and I'm urging the US president not to do it with France.”

He added: “I won't make comparisons but here, people don't have access to guns. Here, you don't have people with guns opening fire on the crowd simply for the satisfaction of causing drama and tragedy.”

More than 230 people have died in a series of assaults in France since the beginning of 2015, and the country has been under a state of emergency rules since November the same year.

On Friday, Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo also used Disney to reject Mr Trump's comments by tweeting a photo of herself alongside Mickey and Minnie Mouse with Mr Trump's Twitter handle.

She said: "To Donald and his friend Jim, from the Eiffel Tower, we're celebrating the attractiveness of Paris with Mickey and Minnie."

In another tweet, with the hashtag #Donald&Jim, Ms Hidalgo said American tourist reservations are up 30 percent in 2017 so far compared to last year.