And which wasn’t true. “I was opening Turnberry the day before Brexit and all they wanted to talk about was Brexit and I said I think Brexit would happen and it did happen,” he said. He’d told that story to The Sun newspaper and they printed it, without apparently checking it, but then everyone else did their job for them and discovered Trump cut the ribbon at his golf course on the day after the Brexit vote. Chalk it up as another Trump porky. Even his most fervent backers will tell journalists Trump is a “grand embellisher”, and to listen to his message rather than sweat the details.

The problem is, Trump had a job to do on Friday and it rather relied on people believing his words. On Thursday he had given an interview to The Sun that was deeply wounding to his host. Queen Elizabeth II, left, smiles as she greets President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump at Windsor Castle. Credit:AP May's team had put together his dream visit to the UK: dinner at Winston Churchill’s family palace, tea with the Queen at Windsor Castle, a friendly chat at idyllic Chilterns getaway Chequers (not far from Lewis Carroll’s Oxford which inspired his hallucinatory stories), where presidents and prime ministers have traditionally pledged friendship for generations. Donald Trump and the Queen inspect a Guard of Honour, formed of the Coldstream Guards at Windsor Castle. Credit:AP

Trump was given an itinerary that neatly dodged the tens of thousands on London’s streets with angry placards, whisking him across the home counties in thundering helicopters. A six-meter high baby blimp of Donald Trump is flown as a protest against his visit, in Parliament Square backdropped by the scaffolded Houses of Parliament and Big Ben in London on Friday. Credit:AP Trump repaid his hosts by belittling May’s negotiating skills, praising her political nemesis Boris Johnson as great prime ministerial material, and grievously wounding her efforts to build consensus on a plan for Brexit by declaring he probably wouldn’t or couldn’t do a trade deal. On Friday even Trump clearly knew he’d gone too far. He claimed he’d apologised to May about the interview, he flattered her endlessly, he even grudgingly admitted that a trade deal could be possible after all. Trouble was, who to believe? Yesterday’s Trump? Today’s Trump? Tomorrow’s?

“I didn’t criticise the PM,” he said. “Fake news." This was his description of the on-the-record interview he’d given to The Sun, which was on tape, and faithfully transcribed his criticism of her. The past isn’t just a different country to Trump, it’s another universe. Donald Trump, Theresa May, front and Melania Trump, and May\'s husband Philip, arrive at Blenheim Palace on Thursday. Credit:AP But his job sometimes requires him to be credible, and then he has a problem. So the damage he has done to May’s plans is not likely to have been repaired, certainly not fully. Some will reckon Thursday’s Trump was speaking more honestly than Friday’s. It was similar to his pattern at the NATO summit during the week. Come in, throw harmful accusations in all directions, then claim everyone was united and powerful and loved him now that he’d gotten it all on the right track again. Hyperbolic demands forgotten. Maybe it never happened?

One of his stories rang true. On Thursday it was reported he’d threatened to pull the US out of NATO, stop protecting Europe and “go it alone” if the other members didn’t promise to boost their defence spending faster than they were comfortable doing. Military personnel from member states stand to attention during the NATO summit in Brussels on Wednesday. Credit:Bloomberg Asked on Friday if there was a benefit to the US basing troops in Europe, Trump said “there is a benefit… there is also a benefit not to do it. It wasn’t a threat I made, it’s just an unfair situation.” That sounds pretty much like a threat. May just had to grin and bear it all.

Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video Like NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg the day before, she mostly indulged Trump's rhetoric, because the alternative would be to pick a fight, and she has enough of those already with political allies, or ex-allies. Many have not been impressed by Trump’s trip to Europe so far. Former US ambassador to NATO Nicholas Burns called it “the single most chaotic and destructive of an American President. He has put us at odds with the EU, weakened NATO, disparaged Germany and directly undermined May. He is a wrecking ball. American credibility has been diminished.” Trump’s narcissism diminishes the presidency and America’s prestige around the world. Mike Rann, former Australian high commissioner to the UK

Former South Australian premier and Australian high commissioner to the UK Mike Rann said Trump was abdicating the role of every president since Woodrow Wilson in 1918, that of “leader of the free world”. Former South Australian premier Mike Rann was Australian high commission to the UK from January 2013 to June 2014. Credit:David Mariuz “We have a President who denigrates and insults old friends and allies and undermines important relationships,” Rann said. “It happened at the G7 and at NATO, and last year with the Paris climate deal. It’s happening here in Britain. “Trump’s Europe tour has become the theatre of the grotesque… There’s an absence of coherent policy or strategy. There’s also a profound lack of class or dignity. Trump’s narcissism diminishes the presidency and America’s prestige around the world. “Unfortunately Putin is much smarter than Trump and will play him in a longer game.”