Piers Morgan has called for Donald Trump to replace Arsene Wenger as Arsenal manager – because he can ‘build a strong defence wall’.
The TV presenter has long called for Wenger to be ousted from the club after 14 years without a Premier League title.
Teasing his exclusive interview with the US President, Morgan also released a photo of himself holding an Arsenal shirt with the name ‘Trump’ on the back while sitting beside the billionaire.
He said: ‘The moment I invite President Trump to be Arsenal’s new manager – because he’d build a strong defensive wall, have an attacking philosophy and want to win big trophies at all costs.’
Earlier this year Wenger refused to step down and insisted the club’s turmoil had merely strengthened his resolve to remain as manager.
Arsenal are currently trailing three points behind arch rivals Tottenham and five behind fourth place Liverpool, who occupy the final Champions League spot.
Teasing his exclusive interview with the US President, Morgan also released a photo of himself holding an Arsenal shirt with the name ‘Trump’ on the back while sitting beside the billionaire
But when asked in January if this could be his final season following a campaign of adversity, Wenger said: ‘No, that’s not the way I respond.
‘I agree completely that 2018 until now has not been very positive but I am long enough in the job to know that what is important is how we respond to it and to focus on the performance.
‘My personal situation is a bit secondary to all of that, what is important is how the team responds and what we make of 2018.
During the interview Trump also apologised for retweeting videos posted online by Britain First and said he did it because he is a ‘big believer in fighting radical Islamic terror’.
The 71-year-old was speaking to Morgan in Davos, Switzerland, and eventually said he would apologise if the far-right group was seen as being ‘horrible and racist’.
It comes after the politician landed himself in hot water after he retweetedthree clips which purportedly showed ‘anti-Muslim’ material.
They were initially posted by British nationalist Jayda Fransen, who has been convicted of hate crimes, and Theresa May publicly condemned the President.
US President Donald Trump has now publicly apologised for retweeting videos which were initially posted online by far-right group Britain First
The 71-year-old (left) was asked by Piers Morgan (right) whether he wanted to say sorry and replied: ‘I would certainly apologise if you would like me to do that’
Piers Morgan landed the first international interview with Donald Trump since he took office (pictured together in New York in 2010)
Donald Trump retweeted a video which was initially posted online by far-right British nationalist Jayda Fransen, who has been convicted of hate crimes
He was asked about the controversial retweets during the interview, which was aired on Good Morning Britain, and said he did not know who Britain First were when the messages were posted last November.
Trump said that he retweeted the videos because he is a ‘big believer in fighting Islamic terror’ and also said he is the ‘least racist person that anybody’s going to meet’.
And just hours after the interview was aired on ITV this morning, Ms Fransen hit back at Morgan and demanded a sit down with him following the ‘horrific accusations’ he made.
Speaking outside a court in Belfast, where she faced a hate speech charge, she said: ‘I have challenged Piers Morgan to sit down with me and to discuss these absolutely horrific accusations that I am a horrible nasty racist – something I wholeheartedly refute.’
If you’re telling me they’re horrible people, horrible racist people I would certainly apologise if you would like me to do that.
But Piers quickly replied on Twitter and wrote: ‘Here’s my apology to her: ‘Sorry I wasn’t more offensive about you’.’
It comes after the President, who also met Mrs May at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday, said: ‘I know nothing about them and I know nothing about them today. Other than I read a little bit.
‘I guess, again I’m in the United States, so I didn’t read as much about it, perhaps it was a big story in Britain, perhaps it was a bit story in the UK.
‘But in the United States it wasn’t a big story. I did a retweet. When you do your own tweeting, or you do your own social media, it’s fine.
‘When you do those retweets it can cause problems, because you never know who’s doing it to start off with.
‘I don’t know who they are, I know nothing about them, so I wouldn’t be doing that. I am, as I say often, the least racist person that anybody’s going to meet.
‘Certainly I wasn’t endorsing anybody. I knew nothing about them. They had I guess a couple of depictions of radical Islamic terror.
‘Radical Islamic terror, whether you like talking about it or not Piers, it’s a fact.
‘You look at what’s going on in UK and you look at what’s going on all over the world, you can try and shield it.’
Given the amount of offence, Trump was asked if he regrets the retweets.
He added: ‘Look, it was done because I am a big believer in fighting radical Islamic terror. This was a depiction of radical Islamic terror.
‘Here’s what’s fair, if you’re telling me they’re horrible people, horrible racist people I would certainly apologise if you would like me to do that.
‘I know nothing about them. I don’t want to be involved with [these] people, but you’re telling me about these people because I know nothing about these people.’
Trump (pictured during the interview in Switzerland) insisted that he did not know who Britain First were
Morgan (right) asked the President (left) about his relationship with the UK and he said that he is a ‘tremendous supporter’ of Britain
Trump (right) also met Mrs May (left) during a meeting at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday
Piers condemned his friend in November, when he urged him to ‘stop this madness’ after Trump retweeted Britain First
Britain First Deputy Leader Jayda Fransen was pictured arriving at Belfast Laganside Courts today to face charges related to comments made about Islam. She demanded a sit down with Piers following his ‘accusations’
Before the interview, the old friends were filmed joking together and Morgan shouted: ‘Mr President!’
Trump replied: ‘Man, I’ve missed you. Nice to see you, you doing well?’
When asked if he had been ‘busy’, Trump responded: ‘A little busy but that’s okay, it’s good to be with you.’
And when they finally sat down to discuss his first year in office, Trump also revealed he has a ‘very good’ relationship with Mrs May and added that the US ‘will come to Britain’s defence is anything should happen’.
He added: ‘I can tell you I have a very good relationship with your Prime Minister who I just left.
‘She’s been doing a very good job. We actually have a very good relationship, although a lot of people think we don’t.
‘I support her, I support a lot of what she does and a lot of what she says and I support you militarily very much.
‘We will come to your defence if anything should happen, which hopefully will never happen. I am a tremendous supporter of the UK.’
In November, Mrs May criticised the President for retweeting the three videos, the first of which was captioned: ‘Muslim migrant beats up Dutch boy on crutches.’
The second appeared to show a Muslim man destroying a statue of the Virgin Mary while the third video was captioned: ‘Islamic mob pushes teenage boy off roof and beats him to death.’
Trump (pictured) insisted that he is the ‘least racist person that anybody’s going to meet’ during the interview
Morgan pushed him for an apology and he eventually said that he would say sorry after he was told the group were ‘racist, fascist people’
Responding to suggestions that some figures in the UK would like him to be banned from visiting the country, Trump said: ‘I hadn’t heard about banning, I think a lot of the people in your country like what I stand for, they respect what I stand for and I do stand for tough borders.’
He added: ‘The real me is somebody that loves Britain, loves the UK. I love Scotland.
‘One of the biggest problems I have in winning, I won’t be able to get back there so often. I would love to go there.
‘As you know, before this happened, I would be there a lot. Very special people and a very special place. I don’t want to cause any difficulty for your country, that I can tell you.’
Asked what he thought of attacks from his critics, he said: ‘I don’t care. I don’t care. It’s just one of those things.’
Morgan spoke live from Davos following the interview and said it was a ‘significant climb down by the President’.
He said: ‘I think it is significant. A lot of the antagonism I think from people in Britain towards Donald Trump was dramatically fuelled by retweeting one of the leaders of Britain First.
‘Donald Trump made it clear to me that when he did these retweets he had no idea who this person was, he had no idea who Britain First was.
‘He just thought that the videos, which to him depicted ISIS-like behaviour deserved a retweeted. I questioned him on that.
‘I think it was right and proper that he, now he was made aware – and I made him very clearly aware that these are racist, fascist people – that he should apologise and he said look, if they are these people you tell me they are then I would certainly apologise.
‘I think that is a significant climb down by the President. I thought it was an interesting exchange, I don’t think he really wanted to go to the point of apology. But I kept pushing him and eventually we did get there.’
‘The reality is, he has apologised and he has said, I didn’t know who these people were.’
Piers added of the interview: ‘It’s very wide-ranging, we talk about everything from trophy hunting, to Meghan Markle, to Europe, to ISIS, all sorts of stuff.’
Morgan, a MailOnline columnist and editor-at-large for Dailymail.com, is old friends with the US President (pictured with Trump and his family, Donald Trump, Jr., left, and Ivanka Trump, right, in 2008 at the Apprentice finale)
The outspoken columnist for MailOnline has been a big supporter of Trump ever since (pictured together in 2010)
On Friday morning, Morgan said that Trump ‘publicly apologised’ for retweeting the messages and added that the President said he ‘did not know who they were’.
He wrote online: ‘President Trump has publicly apologised for retweeting far-right group Britain First.
‘Says he didn’t know who they were. ‘I don’t want to be involved with these people. If you’re telling me they’re horrible racist people. I certainly apologise’.’
Following the outrage caused by the tweets, Trump subsequently pulled out of an expected visit to Britain to open the new US embassy building in London, which lead to speculation of a diplomatic rift.
Trump’s appearance in the UK is now not expected until the second half of 2018 – and is likely to be met by protests.
Downing Street said: ‘The PM and President concluded by asking officials to work together on finalising the details of a visit by the President to the UK later this year.’
During their 40-minute meeting in Davos, Mrs May also raised the issue of aircraft manufacturer Bombardier, which has a major plant in Northern Ireland and is at the centre of a US trade dispute.
Morgan and Trump became friends while the former News of the World editor, who was working at CNN at the time, after he won the US’ Celebrity Apprentice.
Piers said last year: ‘I genuinely like him. I have known him through ten years, and saw from The Apprentice he can be charming, funny, smart and his judgment is spot on.
‘He loved drama and arguments and making the right decision and being popular.’
The full interview will air on ITV on Sunday evening.
Britain First leader dismisses claims ‘master politician’ Trump apologised for tweet
Paul Golding (pictured) insisted ‘master politician’ Trump was ‘playing the game’
The leader of Britain First has slammed claims that Donald Trump apologised for retweeting them – and claimed the President knew exactly who his party were.
Paul Golding insisted ‘master politician’ Trump was ‘playing the game’ during a TV interview with Piers Morgan.
He also labelled the arrests of himself and Britain First deputy leader Jayda Fransen in Northern Ireland as an ‘outrageous abuse of police powers,’ and defended the far-right party against claims of racism.
Golding said of Trump: ‘He didn’t apologise, he said ‘if what you’re telling me is that they are racists, I would be prepared to apologise’ – which isn’t exactly an apology.
He added: ‘Donald Trump is a master politician, he’s playing the game and he knew what he was doing.
‘At that point, Jayda had been arrested in Belfast for making a speech criticising Islam and she was being persecuted by the police.
‘Trump retweeted three different videos in a row in his way of poking the British Government and asking what they’re doing with Jayda.
‘The idea that he [Trump] did this without knowing anything about us is preposterous – he retweeted three videos in a row which he’s never done before.
‘He didn’t actually apologise, he said he was prepared to if we were in fact horrible racist people, which we’re not.’
Deputy leader Jayda Fransen made a brief appearance in the dock at Belfast Magistrates Court on Friday on two hate charges.
She was charged over a speech made on August 6 at a Northern Ireland Against Terrorism rally.’
Ms Fransen also slammed claims that Trump had apologised, and accused Piers Morgan of misrepresenting her views to Trump on TV.