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- Hand-holding happened when May travelled to Washington in 2017 about Nato
- Advisers revealed that former president believed Mrs May was ‘not strong’
- Mrs May’s aide added that hand-holding took everyone by surprise
Former prime minister Theresa May called her husband to warn him that pictures of Donald Trump holding her hand would be published worldwide, it has been revealed.
Mrs May had travelled to Washington in 2017 in a bid to persuade the then-president to make a supportive statement about Nato and to discuss his relationship with Vladimir Putin.
A new three-part BBC series, Trump Takes on the World, gives documentary maker Norma Percy unprecedented access to observers of the president.
Former US deputy national security adviser, KT McFarland, revealed that the former president believed Mrs May was ‘not strong’.
Mrs May had travelled to Washington in 2017 in a bid to persuade the then-president to make a supportive statement about Nato and to discuss his relationship with Vladimir Putin
Former joint chief of staff at No 10, Fiona McLeod Hill said: ‘He held her hand going through the colonnades, which took us all by surprise, and as it turns out, took Theresa by surprise.
‘She couldn’t really take her hand back, so she was stuck… And the first thing she said was ”I need to call Philip just to let him know I’ve been holding hands with another man before it hits the media”.’
However, before she was able to contact Mr May she had to attend a lunch hosted by Mr Trump where she was subjected to one of the former president’s stream-of-consciousness rants.
A new three-part BBC series, Trump Takes on the World, gives documentary maker Norma Percy unprecedented access to observers of the president
US undersecretary for political affairs, Thomas Shannon, revealed that Mrs May was treated to the ‘full bloom’, which he described as running ‘the gamut from his own inauguration to his disdain for the press’.
When Trump denied having spoken to Russian leader Vladimir Putin his chief of staff told the president that Putin had called but had not been put through.
This allegedly sent him into a ‘toe-curling’ outburst in which he ‘flipped’. He scolded his advisers in front of Mrs May according to Mr Shannon.
Former US deputy national security adviser, KT McFarland, revealed that the former president believed Mrs May was ‘not strong’
He said that Trump seethed: ‘You’re telling me that Vladimir Putin called the White House and you’re only telling me now during this lunch? Vladimir Putin is the only man in the world who can destroy the United States and I didn’t take his call.’
Former French president Francois Hollande also revealed what he told Emanuel Macron about Mr Trump: ‘Don’t expect anything from Donald Trump. Do not think you’ll be able to change his mind.
‘Don’t think that it’s possible to to him or seduce him. Don’t imagine that he won’t follow through with his own agenda.’
Trump Takes on the World begins on Wednesday at 9pm on BBC Two