New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has spoken candidly on a US late-night television show about the awkward moment her husband met President Donald Trump.
The New Zealand PM appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert as part of her US tour to push global cooperation with climate change, inequality and trade.
Ms Ardern spoke frankly on a range of topics with the talk show host, but it was the subject of President Trump that Mr Colbert was keen to discuss.
The PM is only the second female world leader to give birth while in office, which has sparked huge fascination.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern (pictured) has spoken candidly about Donald Trump and the embarrassing gaffe her husband made on US late-night television
Ms Ardern attracted worldwide attention when she brought her four-month-old baby Neve into the UN for her maiden speech this week.
One of the questions Colbert was keen to get answered was how the PM’s husband, Clarke Gayford, ended up tripping over while meeting US President Donald Trump.
The PM told the talk show host she was having a brief conversation with President Trump when the clumsy gaffe took place.
She explained how they were discussing tariffs when, ‘There was a slight distraction, [and] my partner knocked over a flag pole,’ News Now reported.
She said as the flag pole went down, she turned around to find her husband standing there holding a ‘long metal prong’ in his hand, Stuff reported.
‘I’m surprised no one leapt on it at that point because it looked like a weapon,’ she said.
The talk show host then quizzed the PM on what she thought about world leaders laughing at President Trump during his speech to the U.N. General Assembly.
When he asked, ‘What did you experience?’, Ms Ardern replied by asking the talk show host, ‘Are you trying to create a diplomatic incident?’
She added: ‘There was a little laugh and he said I didn’t expect that response and there was a bigger laugh then people laughed with him.’
Ms Ardern was quizzed on what she thought about world leaders laughing at President Dondald Trump’s (pictured) speech to the U.N General Assembly
Colbert praised the PM for her skillfully worded reply and commented on how her response suggested a war between the US and NZ was highly unlikely.
The conversation then steered away from politics, when Colbert confessed his love of Lord of the Rings – a fact the Prime Minister knew and used to her advantage.
As the host admitted his love for all things Hobbit related, the PM presented him with a mug from the tourist attraction and an offer to make him an official citizen of Hobbiton.
‘The official calligrapher who did the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit wrote up your official invitation so come to New Zealand and we’ll make the ceremony official,’ she said.
The pair concluded the interview by jovially discussing how Ms Ardern’s current home used to be a pre-school and dental hospital.
Colbert finished with a joke, saying the White House had once been an ice cream shop.
Ms Ardern attracted worldwide attention when she brought her four-month-old baby Neve (pictured) into the UN for her maiden speech this week