Donald Trump reportedly urged Emmanuel Macron to pull France out of the European Union in return for a more favourable bilateral trade deal with the US.

According to the Washington Post, President Trump made the proposal during the French president’s visit to Washington in April.

“Why don’t you leave the European Union,” the US president reportedly asked Mr Macron, an ardent Europhile.

It was not clear whether or not the offer was intended as a joke or an attempt to undermine the EU.

It was reportedly made as the two leaders were discussing trade at a private meeting in the White House, according to The Post, quoting two unnamed European officials.