Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate swears at reporter after Donald Trump rejects dinner claim

Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate has lashed out over questions about his claim he dined with US President Donald Trump , despite the Trump Organisation calling his account a “complete fabrication”.

Tate was confronted about the dinner during a press conference for the Burley Library on Tuesday, eventually telling an ABC journalist to “f*** off” before storming away.

The controversy centres on Tate’s visit to Florida in February, when he said he had dinner with Trump at his exclusive Mar-a-Lago resort after travelling to the US to discuss a proposed Trump-branded tower on the Gold Coast .

Tate previously described the evening to Triple M Gold , saying he and Trump shared tomahawk steaks and “expensive wine”.

But the White House has since said Trump and First Lady Melania Trump did not have dinner with the group.

The Trump Organisation has now issued its own statement, directly rejecting Tate’s version of events.

“Mayor Tate’s account of what occurred is a complete fabrication,” a spokesperson said.

“ President Trump has never had dinner with Mayor Tate. While the President was on the patio, he briefly said hello to the Mayor’s table, as he typically does with guests at Mar-a-Lago.

“He then proceeded to a separate dinner that had absolutely nothing to do with Mayor Tate or his event.

“Any suggestion that the president had dinner with Mayor Tate, or that he attended an event that was directly or indirectly connected to or associated with Mayor Tate or his event, is categorically false.”

“I’ve had, yes. And the matter is private,” he said when asked if he had dinner with Trump.

Asked about the White House account, Tate replied: “I say that re-creation may vary.”

“All I know is I’m there, the President was there, Eric was there, Lara was there, First Lady was there, my First Lady was there.”

He would not say how long he had spoken with Trump, or who else was sitting at his table.