President Donald Trump denies calling Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, 'nasty'

President Donald Trump on Sunday pushed back against reports that he had described Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, as “nasty.”

The president posted on Twitter, “I never called Meghan Markle 'nasty.' Made up by the Fake News Media, and they got caught cold!”

Trump, 72, was referring to an earlier, wide-ranging interview with British tabloid The Sun, in which the newspaper quoted the American president as criticizing the U.S.-born Duchess of Sussex.

The former Meghan Markle, who gave birth in May and will not take part in royal events during Trump's official visit to the U.K. this week, was critical of the president in the past, prompting him to tell The Sun, “I didn’t know that she was nasty.”

Trump said later in the interview, published in The Sun on Friday, that he thought Markle, 37, would be “very good” as a royal.

Despite his denials, The Sun posted the audio of the interview on its website, which included the president's "nasty" comment.

Meanwhile the Trump campaign, which also tweeted a denial of the president's comment, posted accompanying audio and subtitles of The Sun's talk with Trump that included the "nasty" remark.

Trump's denial came on the same day as Markle's friend, actress Priyanka Chopra, defended the duchess in an interview with Britain's Sunday Times.

Chopra, 36, called criticism against Markle, who has been called difficult and demanding in gossip reports, "really unfortunate," adding, "but if there's anyone who can handle it, it's her."

The Indian actress also said she believed part of the criticism for her friend was fueled by racism.

"For sure, 100%," Chopra told the Times. "Of course it has to do with racism, it's an obvious reason. But the beauty of Meg is that she's been herself through all of this. A lot of people got to know her after everything [once she started dating Harry], but I knew her before and she's the same chick."

With Newsday Staff