Karoline Leavitt has revealed an unusually blunt moment from Donald Trump’s private diplomacy — claiming the president once told then-British Prime Minister Keir Starmer that his policies were “so stupid” during a lunch in the United Kingdom.

The former White House press secretary shared the story during a new appearance on Sean Hannity’s podcast, describing Trump as just as direct with foreign leaders behind closed doors as he is in public.

According to Leavitt, Trump had friendly relationships with many world leaders but did not hesitate to criticize policies he believed were damaging their countries.

“He’s very open and candid with other world leaders,” she said.

Then she offered Starmer as an example.

Leavitt recalled sitting at a lunch with Trump and Starmer during a U.K. visit.

She said the group was enjoying the meal when Trump suddenly began attacking the British government’s approach to immigration and other domestic issues.

“Your policies here are so stupid,” Trump told Starmer, according to Leavitt.

She said Trump then urged him to close Britain’s borders and deport more people, adding that he believed British voters disliked the direction Starmer was taking the country.

Importantly, Leavitt’s account does not say Trump directly called Starmer himself “stupid.”

Her recollection was that he described Starmer’s policies that way.

That distinction has largely disappeared from some of the more dramatic headlines surrounding the interview.

Leavitt said the setting made the exchange especially memorable.

Trump was not hosting Starmer at the White House.

He was criticizing the British prime minister while visiting Britain.

“This is in his house, in his country,” she recalled.

She said senior adviser Stephen Miller was also present and remembered exchanging a look with him as Trump continued.

“Oh boy. Here we go,” she recalled thinking.

When Hannity asked whether she found the encounter entertaining, Leavitt replied: “Of course.”

The anecdote fits a broader pattern Leavitt described in the interview.

She said Trump frequently criticized European allies over immigration, energy policy and climate initiatives, even when those governments were otherwise close American partners.

Britain, she said, received particularly blunt criticism over its energy strategy.

Leavitt presented that behavior as evidence that Trump does not dramatically change his message once cameras leave the room.

“What he says to the media publicly is exactly what he’s saying behind the scenes privately too,” she said.

The timing of the revelation is notable.

Trump met Starmer’s successor, Prime Minister Andy Burnham, this week at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

That meeting appeared markedly warmer.

Burnham said afterward that the two leaders had established a “good connection,” while Trump described the British prime minister as a “natural business person.”

Trump nevertheless continued criticizing British policy.

During the meeting, he again attacked the U.K.’s plan concerning sovereignty over the Chagos Islands and the strategic Diego Garcia military base.

“I don’t support it. It was a terrible deal,” Trump said Tuesday.

He called the arrangement “ridiculous,” even as both governments publicly emphasized the importance of the broader U.S.-U.K. relationship.

That combination — personal warmth paired with aggressive policy criticism — closely matches the diplomatic style Leavitt described.

Trump may praise the leader sitting across from him.

But disagreement over immigration, energy, defense or trade can quickly produce much sharper language.

His relationship with Starmer became increasingly strained before the British leader left office.

By contrast, Trump suggested this week that relations had improved under Burnham, telling reporters they were “more up now” than under the previous prime minister.

Leavitt’s recollection therefore offers a revealing glimpse of what those earlier tensions apparently looked like away from cameras.

It is still only her account of the private conversation.

There is no publicly released transcript of the lunch, and Starmer has not confirmed the exchange.

But Leavitt says she was sitting at the table when it happened.

And according to her version, Trump did not bother with carefully worded diplomatic language.

He looked across the table at one of America’s closest allies and told him exactly what he thought:

“Your policies here are so stupid.”