US President Donald Trump has a "bizarre" desire to frequently hold phone conversations with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, often leaving the latter confused about the concrete agenda of the talks, media reported, citing a White House official.

On Friday, Trump tweeted that he "had a very good phone call" with French President Emmanuel Macron and discussed various subjects including security and trade.

"He wanted to talk to him constantly… Macron would be like: ‘Hey, what are we talking about?’ These are very busy people. You don’t just call to check in," the official said, as quoted by the Politico media outlet on Monday.

According to the official, Trump’s love of chatting with Macron on the phone looks like a "bizarre" fascination. The official, however, added that the majority of calls had been requested by Macron.

A former White House official said that, at the beginning of his presidential term, Trump tended to frequently call foreign leaders with little preparation.

"The standard is you don't have your principal call unless you’re asking for something or trying to reward a behavior, either a carrot or a stick. You don't just randomly call," the former official said, as quoted by the media outlet.

The media outlet also reported that the US president’s aides had to remind him on a "constant basis" about time zones due to his habit of calling his counterparts at awkward hours.

In a comment to Politico, White House spokesperson Sarah Huckabee Sanders idefended the president, saying that "foreign leaders appreciate that the president is willing to take their calls day and night" and Trump himself "never wants another leader to wait before their call is returned."

Sputnik