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'He's two-faced': Donald Trump reacts after video appears to show Justin Trudeau and Boris Johnson joking about him behind his back

Donald Trump has responded to video footage appearing to show world leaders including Justin Trudeau and Boris Johnson joking about him behind his back at the Nato summit in London.

On Tuesday evening, the Canadian and UK prime ministers and French president Emmanuel Macron were caught on a hot mic appearing to gossip about the US president’s lengthy press conferences.

Mr Johnson is heard asking Mr Macron, who had had a separate bilateral meeting with Mr Trump: “Is that why you were late?”

Canadian PM Mr Trudeau responds: “He was late because he takes a 40-minute press conference off the top.”

Other words were exchanged but could not be heard, before Trudeau added with a chuckle: “I just watched his team’s jaws drop to the floor.”

Although Mr Trump, who faced protests upon arrival at the reception, was not named directly in the conversation, the US president had held a long unscripted press conference earlier that day.

Asked on Wednesday about what he thought of the video and Mr Trudeau specifically, Mr Trump said: “Well, he's two-faced. And with Trudeau – he’s a good guy – but the truth is I called him out on paying 2% (to the Nato budget) and I guess he’s not very happy about it.

President Donald Trump meets French President Emmanuel Macron at Winfield House, Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2019, in London. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)
Donald Trump meets Emmanuel Macron at Winfield House (AP)

“He’s not paying 2% and he should be paying 2%. It's Canada, they have money. But that’s the way it is, I can imagine he’s not that happy.”

Mr Trudeau later sought to downplay the incident, saying he had a “great meeting” with Trump when asked if had apologised to the president.

He added: “We were all surprised and I think pleased to learn that the next G7 will be at Camp David, I think that was an unscheduled announcement and... I think every different leader has teams who every now and then their jaws drop at unscheduled surprises, like that video itself for example.”

Mr Trump also said his scheduled press conference had been called off and he would go directly to Washington after his meetings instead.

The footage came after Mr Trump said comments Mr Macron had made calling Nato "brain-dead" were "very nasty" before the pair’s meeting at the US ambassador's residence in London. Mr Trump also pressed Mr Trudeau on Canada's Nato spending at another bilateral meeting.

Trump holds court

Earlier on Tuesday, the US president had attacked Mr Macron, Barack Obama and the Democrats in a long press conference.

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He spent around 40 minutes taking questions from the press – particularly from organisations he has blamed for negative coverage in the past.

He chose to take multiple questions from the New York Times – a publication he frequently attacks as "fake news" on Twitter – asking if he would see positive stories about him in the publication.

It was a far cry from recent fraught press conferences in the US when Mr Trump has resorted to hissing at news organisations and questions he does not like.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, not shown, meets U.S. President Donald Trump at Winfield House in London on Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2019. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP)
President Trump spent large parts of the day fielding questions from reporters (AP)
Leaders of the NATO alliance countries, and its secretary general, join Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles the Prince of Wales, for a group picture during a reception at Buckingham Palace in London, Tuesday Dec. 3, 2019, as they gathered to mark 70-years of the alliance. Back row, from left: Xavier Bettel Prime Minister of Luxembourg; Egils Levits President of Latvia; Gitanas Nauseda President of Lithuania; Dusko Markovic Prime Minister of Montenegro; Erna Solberg Prime Minister of Norway; Mark Rutte Prime Minister of Netherlands; Zuzana Caputova President of Slovakia; Andrzej Duda President of Poland; Antonio Costa Prime Minister of Portugal; Klaus Iohannis President of Romania; Marjan Sarec Prime Minister of Slovenia. Middle row from left: Edi Rama Prime Minister of Albania; Zoran Zaev Prime Minister of North Macedonia; Mette Frederiksen Prime Minister of Denmark; Juri Ratas Prime Minister of Estonia; Emmanuel Macron President of France; Angela Merkel President of Germany; Kyriakos Mitsotakis Prime Minister of Greece; Viktor Orban Prime Minister of Hungary; Katrin Jakobsdottir Prime Minister of Iceland; Giuseppe Conte Prime Minister of Italy; Andrej Plenkovic Prime Minister of Croatia. Seated from left: Sophie Wilmas Prime Minister of Belgium; Rumen Radev President of Bulgaria; Donald Trump President of United States; Prince Charles The Prince of Wales; Jens Stoltenberg NATO Secretary General; Queen Elizabeth II; Boris Johnson Prime Minister of the United Kingdom; Justin Trudeau Prime Minister of Canada; Pedro Sanchez Acting Prime Minister of Spain; Recep Tayyip Erdogan President of Turkey; Milos Zeman President of the Czech Republic. (Yui Mok/Pool via AP)
Leaders of the Nato alliance countries, and its secretary general, join the Queen and Prince Charles for a group picture (AP)

When asked about the upcoming British election, he claimed he was not getting involved, saying "I don't want to complicate it", before boasting of all the US electoral candidates he had helped win seats in midterm elections.

The President also denied claims the US was eyeing up the NHS, saying: "We wouldn't want it even if it was offered to us on a silver platter.”

When asked about Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, he said: "I can work with him. I'm a very easy man to work with.”

The president also used the time to attack the current impeachment proceedings against him and criticise Mr Macron for comments about Nato.

He used questions on Syria to boast of the US's killing of Isis leader Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi – an achievement he wants to be seen as equal to that of the assassination of Osama bin Laden.