Donald Trump 'makes up story' about New York high end club renovation during national security meeting

Former owner says of Trump he has 'no idea what was in his head'

Donald Trump told a completely false story about a high end club in New York to his national advisers on Afghanistan (REUTERS)

Donald Trump reportedly made up a story about an upmarket New York restaurant during a national security meeting and all the details were false.

Mr Trump told his top security advisers an anecdote about the renovation of the Manhattan speakeasy 21 Club but both the former owner and the former CEO of the restaurant have denied the story.

The US President reportedly told the story during a meeting at the White House with his advisers, when he suggested firing some of his top military commanders for not winning the war in Afghanistan.

To emphasise his point about how long it was taking to craft a new US strategy in Afghanistan, he compared the situation to the renovation of the Club 21 during the 1980s, which is one of his regular spots, NBC previously reported.

Officials in the meeting said he told generals how the elite restaurant closed for a year and hired an expensive consultant to plan for its renovation who eventually suggested the restaurant needed a bigger kitchen.

They said Mr Trump kept emphasising that the consultant cost the business owner an eye watering fee and that speaking to the waiters might have had a better outcome.

Mr Trump concluded he needed advise from those working on the ground and that war veterans might be better suited to advise him on a strategy in Afghanistan.

But speaking to the the US magazine Page Six, Marshall Cogan, who owned the landmark club between 1985 and 1995 said none of the details in the story were true.

"I have no idea what was in his head. I never have," he said.

Ken Aretsky, 21 Club's CEO during that time, said that Mr Trump had "exaggerated" the story. He said the renovation took less than six months in 1987 and that no consultant had been hired but only an architect.

"I signed all the checks. We didn't make any mistakes. The kitchens were 60 years old. We put in all new equipment and duct work."

Mr Aretsky alo said Mr Trump was a regular client but not to the extent that he had his own table. He celebrated his election victory with his family there last year.

Mr Cogan added: "I think [Trump] has a psychological problem that only a therapist can define for you. I can't."