Following President Donald Trump's water gaffe last week, we thought it'd be pretty darn hard for the 71-year-old to go ahead and embarrass himself again in such quick succession.

But when it comes to Trump and his endless cringeworthy moments (our favourite being talk of his imaginary friend called Jim), he really is the gift that keeps on giving.

At a recent Apec trade summit in Vietnam, the 45th president of the US reportedly mistook New Zealand's new prime minister Jacinda Ardern for Canadian PM Justin Trudeau's wife, Sophie.

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Last week, Comedian Tom Sainsbury appeared on RadioLIVE and revealed he had a conversation with Ardern who told him about the embarassing incident.

'I'm not sure if I should be saying this, but she said that Donald Trump was confused for a good amount of time, thinking that she was Justin Trudeau's wife,' Sainsbury told the presenter.

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However, in a statement to Auckland news website Newshub, Ms Ardern has now denied the US President didn't know she was the Prime Minister of New Zealand, claiming some details were mixed up in Sainbury's retelling of the story.

She also revealed she was concerned her comments about the affair would 'cause a diplomatic incident'.

'Someone thought the President had confused us, but in all of the conversations we had it was clear to me he hadn't, and recalled the conversation we had late last month,' she said.

From L to R: Sophie Trudeau and husband, Canadian PM Justin, Clarke Gayford and NZ Prime Minister Jacinda Ardernpinterest
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Sophie Trudeau and husband, Canadian PM Justin, Clarke Gayford and NZ Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern

In a recent interview with TVNZ, the political added: 'It was a bit of a funny yarn, something I don't want to cause a diplomatic incident over... I think I should never have recounted the story.'

The news comes weeks after she had a minor argument with Trump at the summit.

Last week, Ardern revealed she had met Trump at the East Asia Summit gala dinner, when the President patted the person next to him on the shoulder and said: 'This lady caused a lot of upset in her country.'

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Ardern told the television network that she smiled and replied 'Well, you know, only maybe 40 per cent!'

When Trump repeated his comment, the political replied: 'You know, no one marched when I was elected.'

Ardern 1 - 0 Trump.

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Katie O'Malley
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Katie O'Malley is the Site Director on ELLE UK. On a daily basis you’ll find Katie managing all digital workflow, editing site, video and newsletter content, liaising with commercial and sales teams on new partnerships and deals (eg Nike, Tiffany & Co., Cartier etc), implementing new digital strategies and compiling in-depth data traffic, SEO and ecomm reports. In addition to appearing on the radio and on TV, as well as interviewing everyone from Oprah Winfrey to Rishi Sunak PM, Katie enjoys writing about lifestyle, culture, wellness, fitness, fashion, and more.