Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Tony Blair 'warned Donald Trump the UK may have spied on him'

Michael Wolff alleges ex-PM said UK spies could be monitoring communications and 'possibly even Trump himself'

Jon Sharman
Thursday 04 January 2018 00:14 GMT
Comments
Mr Blair's team has called the claims 'categorically absurd'
Mr Blair's team has called the claims 'categorically absurd' (PA)

Tony Blair has denied he warned Donald Trump‘s aides that British spies may have had them under surveillance during the 2016 election.

The former Prime Minister’s team called the claim “a complete fabrication” after it was published in a tell-all book by US author Michael Wolff.

Previous reports suggested Mr Blair had met Jared Kushner, Mr Trump’s son-in-law, a number of times.

Now Mr Wolff claims he passed on the “juicy rumour that the British had had the Trump campaign staff under surveillance, monitoring its telephone calls and other communications and possibly even Trump himself”.

The allegation was first reported by The Times.

A Blair spokeswoman told The Independent: “The allegations printed in The Times are categorically absurd. They are a complete fabrication, have no basis in reality and are simply untrue.”

Mr Wolff also claims in Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House that Mr Blair tried to land a role as a Middle East adviser to Mr Trump.

The former Labour leader has previously denied similar claims as “an invention”.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, asked about other claims in the book, said it was filled with “false and misleading accounts from individuals who have no access or influence with the White House”.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in