Trump told Emmanuel Macron that Theresa May and Angela Merkel were ‘losers’, documentary reveals

Former ambassador reveals moment Trump derided UK and German leaders in front of French president

Donald Trump described Theresa May and Angela Merkel as “losers” to French president Emmanuel Macron, a documentary has revealed.

According to the former French ambassador to the United States, Gerard Araud, Mr Trump was attending France’s annual Bastille Day parade as Mr Macron’s guest of honour, when he made the remarks in July 2017.

The Bastille Day celebrations were marking 100 years since the US entered the First World War alongside the Allies, and came just months after both Mr Trump and Mr Macron were sworn-in to office in 2017.

Mr Trump, as recalled by the former ambassador, asked Mr Macron what he thought about Ms May and Ms Merkel, and said: ‘What do you think of May and Merkel?’”

Before the French president could answer, Mr Trump told Mr Macron that “they are losers” and “Macron said nothing”, Mr Araud revealed.

“Trump is from the real estate world of New York, which is a world of killers,” the former ambassador added.

The revelations are among a number of insights provided by award-winning film maker Norma Percy, whose documentary series “Trump Takes on the World” aired on BBC Two on Wednesday, with two other episodes to follow.

Mr Araud went on to compare Mr Trump and Mr Macron to “two alpha males” who were “sizing up each other” when both men met initially – with the US president’s clenched handshake “tearing off the shoulder of the person he was meeting.”

“And so Macron responded as another ‘alpha male’”, the former ambassador said, describing “a primitive jungle scene [with] two alpha males meeting".

Francois Hollande, the former French president, similarly described Mr Trump as someone you could not "seduce", and recalled warning Mr Macron of dealing with the US president.

Mr Macron and Mr Trump eventually fell out over policy disagreements, including the United State's decision to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal, which was backed by France and other EU countries, among other issues.

“I said to him [Mr Macron], don’t expect anything from Donald Trump,” Mr Hollande said in the documentary. “Do not think you’ll be able to change his mind. Don’t think that it’s possible to turn him or seduce him.”

Mr Trump was also said to have phoned Mr Hollande in his first days in office in January 2017, and asked for advice on his appointments at White House.

“He said ‘Mr President, you’ve got a lot of experience with the United States, well could you give me some advice for putting together my team at the White House?’,” said Mr Hollande.

“I thought he was just being courteous, it was pretty outrageous. Imagine I phone Obama and said ‘You know France well, who should I appoint as an adviser?’”.