Theresa May has revealed Donald Trump told her to "sue the EU" and "not go into negotiations" over Brexit.

The prime minister made the bombshell revelation as she attempted to defend her proposed Brexit deal amid fierce criticism from Conservative Leave-supporting MPs.

With growing talk of Tory Brexiteers trying to topple Mrs May unless she changes her plans, the prime minister also defiantly declared: "I am in this for the long term."

As well as pressure from within her own party to change her Brexit strategy, as agreed by ministers at Chequers earlier this month and subsequently published in a white paper, Mrs May also faced claims from Mr Trump last week that her Brexit strategy would "kill" hopes of a US-UK trade deal.

Although Mr Trump later backtracked on those claims following talks with Mrs May on Friday, the US president confirmed Mrs May had ignored his "suggestion" on how to deal with Brexit negotiations as "maybe too brutal".


Trump press conference - the best bits

Asked on Sunday what that advice was, the prime minister told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show: "He told me I should sue the EU. Not go into negotiation, sue them."

However, Mrs May also highlighted how - at a joint news conference following their talks - Mr Trump had said she should not walk away from negotiations with Brussels.

She added: "What the president also said at that press conference was 'don't walk away - don't walk away from the negotiations. Then you're stuck'."

Mrs May used the TV interview to try to sell her Brexit proposals, which have been met with an angry response from Tory Brexiteers and prompted the dramatic resignations from her cabinet of former Brexit secretary David Davis and ex-foreign secretary Boris Johnson.

Former prime minister Tony Blair has also come out against the plan, branding it "the worst of both worlds" and calling on parliament to "reject this solution decisively".

However, Mrs May insisted her plans represented "a good deal for the UK".

The prime minister confessed she revised her Brexit strategy from those plans originally set out in her Mansion House speech in January, explaining this was because the EU put forward two proposals that were "unacceptable".

Mrs May claimed the two options on the table from Brussels were "a very poor trade deal" that would have kept Northern Ireland in the EU's customs union, or membership of the European Economic Area (EEA) that included continued acceptance of the bloc's free movement rules on immigration and the whole of the UK remaining in the customs union.

She said: "Both of those are unacceptable. They are what people voted against.

"Faced with that we had an option. We could go for no deal - no deal is still there, it is still possible - but I think the best thing for the UK is to have deal that sets a good relationship with our trading partners in the future.

"So if we were going to find something that was Britain's interest, that delivered on the referendum and that was negotiable, we had to make what is a compromise but is a positive in terms of the benefits it gives us."

Sir Alan Duncan: Tory Brexiteers are playing with fire

Tory Brexiteers are most concerned by Mrs May's proposal for a "common rulebook" on goods and agrifoods with the EU, which has led to claims Britain will be left under the control of Brussels but without a say on new regulations.

But, the prime minister claimed most manufacturers "will abide by these rules anyway" after Brexit, adding: "Giving them frictionless border means that the jobs that depend on that frictionless trade will be protected.

"It means we deliver on the Northern Ireland border. It means we have got benefits out of this deal."

Mrs May also denied claims her plan would prevent Britain signing new trade deals after Brexit, while she dismissed suggestions she had worked on the proposals without consulting the Department for Exiting the EU.

"No department was cut out of these discussions. Discussions have been taking place for some considerable time," she said.

Since resigning, Mr Davis has hit out at the "astonishingly dishonest claim" there is no alternative to Mrs May's proposal, claiming his DExEU officials had been working on a different plan until the prime minister unveiled her Chequers scheme.

Amid reports 40 letters have been submitted to the Conservative Party's 1922 committee demanding a vote of no confidence in Mrs May, eight short of the number required, the prime minister signalled she would face down a challenge to her leadership.

"I have always said I am in this for the long term," she said.

Foreign office minister Sir Alan Duncan warned Leave-supporting MPs that "theological purity" is not on offer in the "real world" of Brexit negotiations, as he warned they are "playing with fire" by criticising the prime minister.

He told Sky News' Sophy Ridge on Sunday show: "She'll win any vote of confidence hands down if ever it were to come to that.

"But the very fact that people think they might do this is utterly destructive, utterly unnecessary and they should back her to the hilt."

Prominent Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg stepped up his criticism of Mrs May's proposals, with the Tory MP revealing he has concluded the prime minister is "a Remainer who has remained a Remainer".

Labour Party chair Ian Lavery MP claimed the prime minister's handling of Brexit has "descended into a shambles".

"No one - not the public, parliament or the Conservative Party - is happy with Theresa May's offer," he said.