Robert de Niro called President Trump a 'f***ing fool' in a foul-mouthed rant as he presented Meryl Streep with a best actress award on Tuesday night.

Introducing Streep at the National Board of Review Annual Awards Gala in New York - which is not broadcast on TV - De Niro took time out to call the President a 'f***ing idiot' and compare his presidency to the fairytale of the Emperor's New Clothes.

The Oscar-winner also branded Trump the 'baby-in-chief' and 'jerk-off-in-chief' while discussing Streep's new film The Post, which is about the publication of the Pentagon Papers into the Vietnam War.

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Robert de Niro attacked President Trump during an awards ceremony speech on Tuesday night in New York, calling him a 'f***ing idiot' and a 'fool'

De Niro, who was at the ceremony to introduce Meryl Streep, also called Trump a 'jerkoff-in-chief' and compared him to the 'delusional, narcissistic, petty, vindictive' President Nixon

Robert De Niro's award speech blasting Donald Trump in full Thank you. First congratulations to Tom Hanks. Tom Hanks has played opposite some of the most iconic figures in American cinema. In Turner and Hooch he co-starred with a humongous, slobbering French Mastiff. In Toy Story his nemesis was action figure Buzz Lightyear. And who could forget his award-winning performance in Castaway, opposite a volleyball named Wilson. That brings us to The Post, and another signature performance from the extraordinary Meryl Streep. Meryl is the most generous and giving actor. She not only inhabits her own character, she helps bring out the character of everyone else on the screen. Can a volleyball do that? [Inaudible] Not even if the volleyball was a stable genius. It was fascinating to watch The Post. That story took place nearly 50 years ago, but there are many parallels with today obviously. At the time of the story Donald Trump was suffering with "bone spurs". Today the world is suffering from the real Donald Trump. Come on. You know. What are we talking about? This f***ing idiot is the President. It's The Emperor's New Clothes - the guy is a f***ing fool. The publication of the Pentagon Papers was a proud moment for American journalism. The Times and the Post challenged the government over critical First Amendment issues. And the press prevailed. Our government today, with the propping [up] of our baby-in-chief - the jerkoff-in-chief I call him - has put the press under siege, trying to discredit it through outrageous attacks and lies.' And again just like 1971 the press is distinguishing itself with brave, exacting journalism. The movie gave us glimpses of President Nixon as delusional, narcissistic, petty, vindictive, nasty and bats*** f***ing crazy. Ah the good old days. The movie and my friend Meryl Streep showed us the evolution of courage - Kate Graham was forced into a man's world and showed the world and showed all those men something about the qualities of daring and devotion to public service - qualities that were thought of as male. No longer. But, astonishingly, today women are still struggling to get their rightful place and their fare share. I am still fighting for Meryl to be able to get 79 cents of what a man would get to play Catherine Graham. It's shameful, I know. The good news is that I think we're at a watershed moment and it's about time. There are many to thank for that, but tonight is for Meryl Streep. Meryl, thank you for speaking out on matters of conscience that affect us all. Thank you for being an actress who plays the most interesting characters with full commitment and without judgement. You show us their heroism as well as their imperfections. And I know that's a stretch for you - because Meryl doesn't seem to have any imperfections. And I say that with the most love for you, Meryl. I love you so much. Ladies and gentlemen, the National Board of Review's best actress... As transcribed by Sopan Deb Advertisement

De Niro said: 'It was fascinating to watch The Post. That story took place nearly 50 years ago, but there are many parallels with today obviously.

'At the time of the story Donald Trump was suffering with "bone spurs". Today the world is suffering from the real Donald Trump.

'This f***ing idiot is the President. It's The Emperor's New Clothes - the guy is a f***ing fool.

'The publication of the Pentagon Papers was a proud moment for American journalism. The Times and the Post challenged the government over critical First Amendment issues. And the press prevailed.

'Our government today, with the propping [up] of our baby-in-chief - the jerkoff-in-chief I call him - has put the press under siege, trying to discredit it through outrageous attacks and lies.'

'And again just like 1971 the press is distinguishing itself with brave, exacting journalism.

'The movie gave us glimpses of President Nixon as delusional, narcissistic, petty, vindictive, nasty and bats*** f***ing crazy. Ah the good old days.'

De Niro has long been a vocal critic of Trump, saying during the presidential campaign that he would 'like to punch him in the face.'

Since then he has used many public speaking opportunities to trash the President, calling him a 'blatant racist', a 'bozo' and a 'motherf***er'.

The actor has long been a vocal critic of Trump, saying he would like to punch him in the face and urging people to vote for Hillary during the 2016 election

He also used an awards speech just days before the 2016 election to call for people to vote for Hillary Clinton.

Aside from De Niro and Streep, Whoopi Goldberg, Gal Gadot and Stephen Colbert were all in attendance at Tuesday night's award ceremony.

Angelina Jolie also appeared with children Shiloh and Zahara Jolie-Pitt before accepting the Freedom of Expression Award for First They Killed My Father.

De Niro's attack comes as Trump battles questions over his competency and mental health raised in Michael Wolff's explosive new book.

The famous columnist claims to have been a virtual fly on the wall during the first months of the new administration as it lunged from crisis to crisis.

He reports that the Trump team never anticipated winning and were simply using his presidential run as a branding exercise before it got out of hand.

As a result the team were woefully under-prepared for power, causing in-fighting among senior figures such as Jared Kushner, Steve Bannon and Reince Priebus.

Meanwhile Trump was attempting to stick to his golfing schedule and took to locking himself in his room with a cheeseburger by 6.30pm each night, Wolff writes.

His press team also refused to accept an interview without the questions being provided beforehand over concerns for his mental health.

Trump has hit back at the claims, proclaiming himself a 'stable genius' who is 'like, really smart' in a series of tweets.

His lawyers have also attempted to stop publication of the book, which is currently top of the Amazon bestseller list.