The mayor of a tiny Trump-loving Virginia island that is rapidly disappearing underwater was personally told by the president not to worry about rising sea levels.

James 'Ooker' Eskridge is the mayor of Tangier - a traditional crabbing community in Virginia with a population of about 450 people.

Studies show the 1.3 square-mile island are disappearing at the alarming rate of 16 feet of land per year, and scientists say residents could be forced to abandon their homes within 25 years as it becomes entirely uninhabitable.

Almost 67 per cent of the island has sank underwater since 1850, according to a 2015 study.

'The Tangier Islands and the Town are running out of time, and if no action is taken, the citizens of Tangier may become among the first climate change refugees in the continental USA,' the report states.

But it seems no one has told Trump that.

James 'Ooker' Eskridge (left) received a call from Donald Trump telling him not to worry about his island town of Tangier disappearing under rising sea-levels

The president reached out to Eskridge on Monday, phoning him after a CNN report on the island that aired last week was brought to his attention.

'He said not to worry about sea-level rise,' Eskridge said.

'He said, "Your island has been there for hundreds of years, and I believe your island will be there for hundreds more."'

The mayor then explained how he ended up on the phone with Trump.

'It was unreal, He called around 2 o'clock this afternoon,' Eskridge said of the phone call with the president, according to the Daily Times of Salisbury, Maryland.

He said he first got a call from Tangier Oyster Company, during which he was told the president's team contacted them trying to get his home phone number.

Trump called Eskridge just days after the small town of about 450 featured in a CNN report. Trump is pictured waving from his car on June 13

This map shows where the small island is located - just 100 miles from the White House

This picture shows supports on the island jetting out from where 'crab shanties' used to stand before the bit of land was swallowed up by rising sea-levels caused by climate change

This chart shows what the island looked like in 1850 before it began sinking due to rising sea-levels

'So I came in from crabbing and they said I got a call - I said, "That's not real",' he said.

'Anyway, I hung around. I left for a short time to go to my crab house, and then came back and I got this call and the lady says, "I'm with the president's office. The president would like to know if he could speak to you".

'I said, "Yes, he sure can".'

Trump then got on the line, introducing himself by saying to Eskridge: 'You've got one heck of an island there.'

Studies show parts of the 1.3 square-mile island are disappearing at the alarming rate of 16 feet per year. Pictured is a boat in one of the island's inlets

An elderly couple rides a motorbike on the island. Experts have warned Tangier could be uninhabitable in about 25 years due to rising sea-levels

One of the potential reasons why Trump is so fond of the island could be because of how its inhabitants voted in last year's election.

The island is situated in the middle of a Republican stronghold, so much so that about 87 per cent of people who live on Tangier voted for Trump, according to the newspaper.

The mayor shared his constituents support for the president during his call with Trump.

'This is a Trump island; we really love you down here,' Eskridge said.

'I said, "The stuff you are doing is just common-sense stuff."

'I said, "I believe you're for the working man - and you want people to get back to work - you're for the military, and Israel and religious liberties. It's all the stuff that we value."

Workers on the small island are pictured on a boat on the ever-rising water around their shrinking home

A submerged boats rests under a bridge in Tangier, Virginia, May 15, 2017, where climate change and rising sea levels threaten the inhabitants of the sinking island

'I said, "I believe you came along for such a time as this".'

After hearing that, Trump invited the mayor to Washington DC, and told him not to worry about the rising waters.

The low-lying island of Tangier is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Because of its isolation, many residents have retained the linguistic traces of the island's primarily English settlers who first arrived in the 17th century.

The island is also sinking from erosion and rising sea levels, and scientists predict residents may have to abandon it within 25 to 50 years.