Amal Clooney has claimed Donald Trump gives the "green light" to autocratic regimes during a speech in which she warned against the US president's attacks on the press.

Speaking at the United Nations Correspondents Association Awards in New York, the human rights barrister criticised the president for labeling American journalists "enemy of the people" as she drew a line between Mr Trump's rhetoric and the rise of populism around the world.

Speaking of a crackdown on dissent, she said: "The chilling effect is real and it has already been felt, not only in Myanmar but further afield. And sadly similar examples abound in autocratic regimes from North Korea to the Philippines, to Hungary, Turkey and Brazil.

"The US president has given such regimes a green light and labelled the press in this country the enemy of the people."

She referred to the "brutal torture and death" two month ago of a Washington Post journalist, Jamal Khashoggi.