Tom Hanks hit out at President Trump in a speech after being honored by the National Archives Foundation on Saturday night.

The Academy Award-winning actor knocked the president's response to the controversy over the comments he allegedly made to a Gold Star Widow last week - calling it 'one of the biggest c**k-ups on the planet Earth.'

'I'm only knowing what I read in the newspapers and what have you, and it just seems like one of the biggest c**k-ups on planet earth, if you ask me,' Hanks said to CNN.

Tom Hanks hit out at President Trump in a speech after being honored by the National Archives Foundation on Saturday night. He is pictured on the stage at the foundation after receiving his award on Saturday

The Academy Award-winning actor knocked the president's response to the controversy over the comments he allegedly made to a Gold Star Widow last week - calling it 'one of the biggest c**k-ups on the planet Earth'

'This is a tragedy of the utmost consequence and it goes much longer beyond who's going to come out on top of the new story.

'I think it's very sad.'

The comments came after Trump allegedly told Gold Star Widow of La David Johnson that her husband 'knew what he signed up for.'

Johnson was killed in battle during a presumed ISIS attack earlier this month in Niger.

The president has been in a war of words with Florida Congresswoman Frederica Wilson over the call, after Wilson said in an interview that Trump's comments were dismissive.

Wilson is a family friend of the Johnsons, and was in a limousine with the Gold Star widow and her family on the way to the airport to pick up the soldier's body when Trump made the call.

Johnson confirmed Wilson's version of events on Monday, speaking on Good Morning America.

'Whatever Ms Wilson said was not fabricated. What she said was 100 per cent correct,' Johnson said. 'The phone was on speakerphone. Why would we fabricate something like that?'

Johnson said her aunt, her uncle, a master sergeant and Wilson were with her in the car when Trump called the master sergeant .

The call came as they pulled onto the tarmac at Dover Dover Air Force Base to pick up Sgt. Johnson's body, his widow said.

The president has been in a war of words with Florida Congresswoman Frederica Wilson, pictured, over the call, after Wilson said in an interview that Trump's comments were dismissive

Johnson confirmed Wilson's version of events on Monday, speaking on Good Morning America

Johnson was so stunned by the call, she claimed, that she didn't respond to the president. She is pictured kissing her husband's casket at a burial service for him on Saturday

As soon as the interview was over Trump pounced on Twitter. 'I had a very respectful conversation with the widow of Army Specialist Sgt. La David Johnson, and spoke his name from beginning, without hesitation!' he tweeted after the interview ended

Johnson said she asked the master sergeant to put the phone on speakerphone so that everyone in the car could hear Trump.

'The president said "He knew what he signed up for, but it hurts anyway,"' Johnson recalled.

'It made me cry because I was very angry at the tone of his voice and how he said it.

'He couldn't remember my husband's name. The only way he remembered my husband's name was because he told me he had my husband's report in front of him, and that's when he actually said "La David".

'I heard him stumbling on trying to remember my husband's name and that's what hurt me most. Because if my husband is out here fighting for our country and he risks his life for our country, why can't you remember his name? And that's what made me upset and cry more,' she added.

Johnson was so stunned by the call, she claimed, that she didn't respond to the president.

She says she left the call feeling even worse than before.

As soon as the interview was over Trump pounced on Twitter.

'I had a very respectful conversation with the widow of Army Specialist Sgt. La David Johnson, and spoke his name from beginning, without hesitation!' he tweeted after the interview ended.

Tom Hanks made the comments on Saturday night after receiving the Records of Achievement Award at the annual National Archives Foundation gala in Washington. Hanks is pictured with Ken Burns Saturday night

'No actor has covered the span of the 20th-century American history as broadly as honoree Tom Hanks,' David Ferriero said in a statement provided by the foundation. Hanks is pictured with Ken Burns Saturday night

Hanks made the comments on Saturday night after receiving the Records of Achievement Award at the annual National Archives Foundation gala in Washington.

The award is said to be the highest honor given by the foundation to an 'individual whose work has fostered a broader national awareness of the history and identity of the United States through the use of original National Archives records.'

'No actor has covered the span of the 20th-century American history as broadly as honoree Tom Hanks,' David Ferriero said in a statement provided by the foundation.

In his acceptance speech Hanks spoke about the importance of 'dialogue' and 'ongoing reexaminations about what is taught about [America's founding.]' He was speaking specifically about Confederate monuments and statues of people like Christopher Columbus.