Boy Scouts say Donald Trump's claim their leader phoned him to praise speech is untrue

US President says he was told he had given 'greatest speech ever' - but organisation says conversation did not take place

Donald Trump’s claim that the leader of The Boy Scouts of America phoned him to compliment him on this controversial recent speech to thousands of its members, has been contradicted by the organisation.

The US President was criticised for his overtly political address at the organisation’s National Jamboree in West Virginia, which saw him criticise Hillary Clinton, rail against the “fake news” media and boast about his election victory.

Mr Trump was subsequently criticised for breaking with decades of tradition and making his speech party political.

But in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, he claimed that the head of the Boy Scouts had called him to tell him it was “the greatest speech that was ever made to them”.

"They loved it," he said, adding that he would be the "first to admit" that reaction had been mixed.

Insisting that there had been "a standing ovation from the time I walked out to the time I left, and for five minutes after I had already gone", he said: “And I got a call from the head of the Boy Scouts saying it was the greatest speech that was ever made to them, and they were very thankful."

However, the Boy Scouts told TIME magazine that they were unaware of any call between their national leaders and the White House.

“The Chief Scout Executive’s message to the Scouting community speaks for itself,” a spokesperson said.

They were referring to a letter released by Michael Surbaugh, the Chief Scout Executive of the Boy Scouts of America, in which he apologised to anyone offended by Mr Trump’s speech.

"I want to extend my sincere apologies to those in our Scouting family who were offended by the political rhetoric that was inserted into the jamboree," it read. "That was never our intent."

Inviting the US President to speak at the jamboree is a “longstanding tradition” and is “in no way an endorsement of any person, party or policies”, he wrote.

He added: "For years, people have called upon us to take a position on political issues, and we have steadfastly remained nonpartisan and refused to comment on political matters. We sincerely regret that politics were inserted into the Scouting program.”