French President Emmanuel Macron has called British Prime Minister Boris Johnson a clown in a private conversation, according to French media.
Political magazine Le Canard enchaîné reported Macron said Johnson has 'the attitude of a vulgarian'.
The descriptive language came as Macron complained about Johnson's behaviour after the leaders spoke over the phone about the sinking of a refugee boat in the English Channel.
Johnson reportedly angered Macron by tweeting a letter outlining a five-point plan to fix issues on the Channel crossings.
"For my part, I continue to do that, as I do with all countries and all leaders. I am surprised by methods when they are not serious," Macron said at a press conference on Friday (local time).
"We do not communicate from one leader to another on these issues by tweets and letters that we make public."
But the President went further than the magazine reported.
"Bojo talks to me at full speed, everything is going fine, we have discussions like big people, and then he gives us a hard time before or afterwards in an inelegant way. It's always the same circus," he said.
Macron told his staff that Johnson apologised privately for making France a public scapegoat over issues like the Channel crossings and the "sausage war".
"It is sad to see a major country with which we could do huge number of things being led by a clown," Macron reportedly said.
The Guardian reports the relationship breakdown comes after French ambassador to the UK Sylvie Bermann told Times Radio relations between France and the UK hadn't been this bad in a long time.
"Never been as bad since Waterloo," she said.
The Guardian reported Macron believes Johnson's attitude towards France is due to the shortcomings of the Brexit deal.
It's alleged the French president said Brexit was the start of Johnson's circus.
"Brexit is the starting point of the Johnson circus. Very quickly he realised that the situation was catastrophic for the British. There was no petrol in the pump, there were shortages of a whole pile of products," he reportedly said.
Macron continued to analyse Johnson's behaviour.
"He is positioning himself as the victim and making France the scapegoat. He tried to turn simple situations into complex problems. We've been in this position since March. He's done it over the 'sausage war', over fishing, over the submarine affair," he reportedly said.
"In private he says he's sorry to behave like this, but he says that he has to consider public opinion everything else."
