Donald Trump offered to give Theresa May a list of his favourite New York lawyers when he advised her to sue the European Union.

The US President first suggested she take legal action against Brussels rather than pursue negotiations last July.

In a one-on-one meeting at the G20 summit in Hamburg he told the Prime Minister to litigate and offered to help with the names of lawyers he respected. Mr Trump then repeatedly raised the suggestion with Mrs May in a series of telephone conversations over the course of the past year.

Donald Trump told Theresa May he had a list of good lawyers

At their joint news conference at Chequers last Friday, the US President said he had offered his thoughts on how she should approach the talks, but declined to go into detail. 'She found it maybe too brutal,' he said. 'I could fully understand why she thought it was a little bit tough.'

Mrs May disclosed on the BBC on Sunday that Mr Trump had urged her to pursue legal action. 'He told me I should sue the EU. Not go into negotiations, sue them,' she said.

Mr Trump's visit to Britain was almost blown off course after he made a series of incendiary comments criticising Mrs May's premiership in a newspaper interview.

Mr Trump advised the Prime Minister to sue the EU rather than negotiate Brexit

He denounced her negotiating style, lavished praise on Boris Johnson and attacked her Brexit plan, warning the proposals would kill off a trade deal with America.

But hours after the remarks were published, Mr Trump backtracked, heaping praise on 'incredible' Mrs May and hailing UK-US relations as the 'highest level of special'.