David Cameron thought Barack Obama was a narcissist, ex-aide claims

Photo / AP

The man who served as David Cameron's director of strategy said the former prime minister thought Barack Obama was one of the "most narcissistic, self-absorbed people" with whom he had ever dealt.

Steve Hilton, who was once one of Cameron's most senior advisers, now hosts a TV show on the American network Fox News.

In the most recent episode, he defended President Donald Trump against allegations made in a new book that he was mentally unfit for office by railing against previous presidents and their failings.

He claimed Obama's high-handed manner was in part responsible for disasters such as the rise of the Isil.

His words cast a new light on the so-called bromance between Cameron and Obama.

"As for Obama, all I can tell you is my old boss, former British prime minister David Cameron, thought Obama was one of the most narcissistic, self-absorbed people he'd ever dealt with," he said during Sunday's episode of the Next Revolution.

"Obama never listened to anyone, always thought he was smarter than every expert in the room and treated every meeting as an opportunity to lecture everyone else.

"This led to real world disasters like Syria and the rise of Isis, but the real world doesn't matter to the elites – for them it's all about style and tone, not substance and results."

His words stand in contrast to the pair's time in office, when they were photographed together playing table tennis and golf, or grilling burgers together in the Downing Street garden.

A spokesman for Cameron told The Guardian the views expressed by Hilton could not be further from the truth.

"David Cameron's views on President Obama – whether in public or in private – are the same: he considers Barack Obama a hugely accomplished president, a great partner for Britain and a good friend to our country and to him personally," he said.

British Prime Minister David Cameron tweeted a picture of himself on the telephone to US President Barack Obama. Photo / AP

Trump has been under sustained assault since the publication of Fire and Fury by the journalist Michael Wolff, creating a rising tide of criticism that the president was simply not up to the job.

On Monday, Axios revealed that a shadow White House diary allocates the president as much as three hours each morning to "executive time", seized upon by critics as a euphemism for watching TV and tweeting.

Hilton defended Trump by saying critics should recognise important populist policies that had made an impact on public life, such as pro-worker policies on immigration, infrastructure and trade.

"I said back in the summer, when I first learned what these aides and hangers-on were saying to Wolff, that the president is surrounded by too many two-faced, self-serving muppets who say one thing in public and another behind the president's back," he added.