Donald Trump has compared himself to the Mona Lisa in a bizarre interview with Welsh-language TV channel S4C.
In a coup for the Cardiff-based broadcaster, the ousted US President agreed to sit down with Welsh journalist Maxine Hughes for a documentary, Trump: Byd Eithafol, she was making about his hardcore fans.
In footage due to air on June 11, the favourite for the Republican nomination for next year’s crunch election against Joe Biden makes a series of outlandish claims.
Trump’s team set conditions for the interview at his Mar-a-Lago golf resort in Florida, including that he would only be asked about the rise of the Make America Great Again “movement”.
Describing the popularity of his rallies, and devotion of his supporters who follow him from event to event, Trump compared himself to Leonardo da Vinci’s famous masterpiece which hangs in the Louvre.
“You have people that go to the Mona Lisa - they love the Mona Lisa and they’ll see it hundreds and hundreds of times and it gets better every time,” boasted the ex-Premier, who is bidding for a sensational White House comeback.
“You have people that follow the rock bands and they listen to the same songs over and over and over.”
He also compared fans returning to his rallies like theatre-goers going to “a Broadway play where they will see it 20 times”.
Trump admitted his speeches focused on core themes.
“It’s basically the same 20 subjects that you’re talking about,” he bragged in the cringeworthy appearance.
“You’re talking about the border, you’re talking about the military, you’re talking about low taxes, you’re talking about certain things.
“I can’t just make new things up because I wanna make a speech.
“I can tell them in different ways and I do sometimes do that - a lot of times.
“But they just want to hear it again and again.”
He boasted how his fans - dubbed “front row Joes” - sometimes arrive four days before a rally so they can guarantee seeing their idol.
“It’s become a movement the likes of which almost no country has ever seen, but certainly this country has never seen anything like it,” he gushed.
“We started the rallies and we noticed there were certain groups of people that were just in love with what I was saying, but really in love with the country.”
He began recognising the same faces in the adoring crowd.
Pointing to individuals, “I said, ‘Weren’t they here last week? Weren’t they here last week? Weren’t they here last week?’, and all of a sudden you began to realise that literally every rally - I think every rally - they attend and they have a lot of fun,” he claimed.
“But I think more than anything else they love the country, they have incredible spirit, we love ‘em, we take care of ‘em, we help ‘em get in the front row, frankly.
“After about the 20th rally we said, ‘Why should they be waiting all the time?’
“But we actually said, ‘You could come a little bit later’; they like to get there three, four days early.
“They'll pitch a tent, they’ll wait, they’ll listen to the great music and it becomes an event, it becomes a little like before a football game.
“The ‘front row Joes’ get it and they see it.”
After securing the interview, reporter Maxine suggested S4C would pursue other high-profile targets.
"We shouldn't limit our choices in the content we make or watch, we shouldn't have to turn to English channels to see high-profile people,” she said.
“That’s why we’re going after world leaders.”
Trump: Byd Eithafol (Trump: Extreme World) airs at 9pm Sunday, June 11 on S4C, S4C Clic and BBC iPlayer.
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