WHEN PIERS MET DONALD... WE’VE GOT THE INTERVIEW EVERYONE WANTED

Me, a misogynist? Not guilty, declares Donald in dramatic TV confrontation He blasts Brexit talks, pledges UK deal and threatens EU with trade war As for Corbyn’s calls to ban him from Britain, he says: ‘I don’t care’

IT HAD taken more than a year in the fixing, but finally my moment had come. I was face to face with a man I’ve known for ten years since I won his Celebrity Apprentice show in America. Now, in a small conference room at the Davos World Economic Forum, it was my turn to put him on the spot; to question his success in the greatest office of all: the presidency of the United States

In the course of the following half-hour, Donald Trump would lay bare the true extent of the ‘special relationship’ with Theresa May. He would drop a mighty bombshell on the European Union over trade, and deliver a dramatic rebuke to the British Government about its handling of Brexit.

He would explain his true feelings about feminism, and the women who brand him a misogynist. Oh, and for good measure he would open the door for a rethink on his approach to climate change.

First, though, the charge sheet: ‘Depending on who you talk to,’ I said, ‘you’re either delivering on all of your promises, and beginning to make America great, as you vowed, or you’re a raging, tweeting, wrecking-ball who’s destroying the country and terrifying the entire planet. How do you plead?’

‘I plead not guilty!’ replied the President. ‘To all of it?’ ‘Well, no, I think I shook things up. The country had to be shaken up.’

He then rattled off a string of impressive statistics about the state of America’s surging economy, from record stock market highs to 17-year unemployment lows.

Love him or loathe him, there is no doubt that Trump’s first year as President has seen increasingly strong economic successes.

It has also seen some of the world’s biggest protests.

Last weekend, several million people around the world joined the Women’s March on the first anniversary of his inauguration, many clutching Trump-bashing banners.

Ever since the emergence of the infamous tape of him boasting about being able to grab women ‘by the p **** ’, Trump has understandably been public enemy No1 for feminists.

So how does he feel about women who think he is the worst kind of sexist, misogynist pig? What message could he give to persuade them that he is for them, and not a part of the problem.

‘Well, I am for them,’ he replied, ‘and I think a lot of them understand that.’

Hmmm. I’d say the number of women on those marches who understand that could be written on the back of a postage stamp.

‘You know,’ he replied, ‘I won many categories of women and the women vote in the election, and people were shocked to see it. I was running against a woman and I’m winning all of these categories.

‘And I think I would do even better right now.

‘Women have the best unemployment numbers that they’ve had in 17 years.

‘And they’re doing tremendously in business, they’re doing tremendously in so many ways. And people are starting to see that.’

But what about gender equality and a woman’s right to feel safe in the workplace. Does he sign up to that?

In classic Trump deflection style, he initially said, ‘I do’, and then redefined my question, saying: ‘I also think they want to feel safe at the border. I think they want to see our military get much stronger. Women want to see… a strong law enforcement. I’m very much a law-and-order person. There’s nobody better than me on the military. I think women really like that. I think they want to be safe at home, in many different respects. You know there’s…’

I interrupted him: ‘A lot of women I’ve spoke to about this interview said it would be great to hear the President, given some of the more disrespectful things that have been out there and the way you’ve spoken about women, to acknowledge that you had said things that perhaps you wouldn’t say now.

‘That you have also listened, as many men are listening right now; that you’ve changed, you’ve evolved as a man.’

‘Well, I think we have to evolve,’ he admitted. ‘If we don’t evolve, there’s something missing.

‘But I have tremendous respect for women. You see all of the women I have working around me and working with me. Tremendous respect for women.’

It was time to ask the President a question I suspect he’s never been asked. ‘Do you identify as

Yes I have great respect for all women – but am I a feminist? No

a feminist?’ He looked startled, then half-smiled as if the mere notion was ridiculous.

‘No, I wouldn’t say I’m a feminist. I mean, I think that would be, maybe, going too far. I’m for women, I’m for men, I’m for everyone. I think people have to go out, they have to go out and really do it, and they have to win. And women are doing great, and I’m happy about that.’

We moved on to Britain. Since Trump became President, there

UNFLINCHING INTERVIEW THE WORLD WANTED ... AND OUR MAN GOT

have been numerous protests and calls for him to be banned from the UK altogether, never mind be afforded the full State visit that Theresa May personally promised him a year ago.

‘I think I’m very popular in your country,’ he declared.

I tried not to laugh and pointed out: ‘There are a lot of opposition politicians like Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, and London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who want you banned. They don’t want you coming on any kind of visit.’

‘That’s their problem,’ he said. ‘I mean, if they don’t, I could very nicely stay home. I think a lot of people in your country like what I stand for, they respect what I stand for.’ ‘And to those who don’t?’ ‘I don’t care. I don’t care. It’s just one of those things. I don’t say anything. You know why? Because I don’t care.’

What he did seem to care about was his relationship with Mrs May. Trump held a bilateral meeting with our beleaguered PM in Davos a few hours before we met and was effusive in his praise.

‘I think she’s been doing a very good job,’ he told me. ‘We actually have a very good relationship, although a lot of people think we don’t. I support a lot of what she does and a lot of what she says.

‘And I support you, militarily, very much. I mean, we will come to your defence if anything should happen, which, hopefully, it will never happen. I am a tremendous supporter of the UK.’

This was gratifying to hear. As were his views on trade.

‘So we are going to make a deal with UK that’ll be great,’ he said. ‘As you know, you’re somewhat restricted because of Brexit. You have a two-year restriction. And when that restriction is up, we’re going to be your great trading partner. It’s a tough restriction to have. You know, for a couple of years, you have a very strong lack of being able to do things.’

So far, so reassuring. But in a rebuke of major significance, Trump said he felt the Government was going wrong over the way it is negotiating Brexit, urging them to go much harder on the EU and even suggesting he’s about to unleash a US trade war on the EU.

‘Well, would it be the way I negotiate?’ he said of our Brexit dealmaking. ‘No. I wouldn’t negotiate it the way it’s [being] negotiated.

‘I think I would have negotiated it differently. I would have had a different attitude.’ ‘What would you have done?’ ‘I think I would have said that the European Union is not cracked up to what it’s supposed to be. And I would have taken a tougher stand in getting out. You know, I have a lot of problems with the European Union. I’m representing the United States, it’s a very unfair situation. We cannot get our product in. It’s very, very tough.

‘And yet they send their product to us – no taxes, very little taxes. It’s very unfair.

‘I’ve had a lot of problems with European Union, and it may morph into something very big from that standpoint, from a trade standpoint. The European Union has treated the United States very unfairly when it comes to trade.

‘They’re not the only one, by the way. I could name many countries and places that do. But the European Union has been very, very unfair to the United States. And I think it will turn out to be very much to their detriment.’

That stark warning might take the smug grin off the EU leaders’ faces. America is by far the EU’s biggest trading partner, with £484 billion of business going between the two in 2016 alone.

His first year in office may have been dogged by drama and controversy, but if my meeting with the President has convinced me of one thing, it’s that his determination to fight hard and fight to win remains entirely undimmed.

President Trump: The Piers Morgan Interview, airs on ITV at 10pm tonight.