Piers Morgan’s world exclusive interview with Donald Trump (ITV) was a towering feat of journalism, yielding scoops by the platterful and revealing the Commander-in-Chief to be thoughtful, humane, witty and a shoo-in for the manager’s job at Arsenal.

Don’t take my word for it – just ask Morgan who, not satisfied with cornering Trump for a 45 minute chinwag at the Davos World Economic Forum, was also considerate enough to furnish his own running commentary on how the interrogation was going.

“Some remarkable revelations here…he tweets in bed,” went a breathless Morgan voiceover after Trump had allowed that he indeed occasionally dispatches one of his incendiary social media zingers wrapped up in the Presidential duvet. “I knew it was going to be special,” Morgan later gushed. “But I didn’t expect that the Commander-in-Chief was going to be this candid.”

The meeting between Twitterdom’s two great self-publicists had been loudly hyped, with ITV trumpeting the many blockbusting revelations Morgan had supposedly inveigled from the President. Trump thinks the EU is not “cracked up the way it is supposed to be”.

He respects women, especially those eager to see America’s borders protected. He believes in climate change in so far as he accepts “there is a cooling and there is a heating”.

Piers Morgan and US president Donald Trump were in Davos, Switzerland Credit: ITV EXCLUSIVE

But Morgan had come to gild as much as to grill. “I want them to get the real you,” he said, explaining that the Trump he’d come to known participating on Celebrity Apprentice in 2008 was tough yet fair – and responsive to measured criticism.

The interview in truth revealed more about Morgan than the President, who radiated his usual forcefield of bluster. As co-host of Good Morning Britain, Morgan revels in his Mr Nasty image – a notoriety he had fun with at the National Television Awards recently when he was hilariously – or, at least, “hilariously” – introduced as host. The skit had played on his likes-to-be-loathed brand – a persona he appeared to have left on the luggage carousel at Davos airport.

Instead of the jackhammer-tongued villain of breakfast telly, the Morgan that sat down with Trump was a fine-tuned flattery-dispensing machine. He looked a bit like one of those novelty nodding bird toys as Trump outlined what he described as the record breaking performance of the US economy office since he took office. “A lot of people don’t want to give you credit,” growled GMB’s vicious attack dog. “[But] a lot of that is indisputable”

Nor were the exclusives he seemed to think he’d bagged particularly ground-shaking. Morgan appeared to believe he’d cajoled an apology out of Trump for the infamous Britain First retweets. Trump, you suspect, would give a different account of the exchange. “You’re telling me about these people,” the President said. “I know nothing about these people.”

Quizzed about Meghan Markle's criticisms of Trump’s attitude towards women the President likewise offered a big fat shrug.

“I want them to be happy,” he said of Prince Harry and his fiancé. “I hope they’re happy.” Weirdly it was a causal name-check by Morgan of French President Emmanuel Macron that drew the most visibly enthusiastic response from the President. “He’s friend of mine,” he said, suddenly engaged. “I like him a lot…great guy.”

US president Donald Trump responds to Piers Morgan's questions on ITV Credit: ITV EXCLUSIVE

Morgan admitted early on that interviewing the American President was a strange experience. Not because of the stature of the office but because the incumbent was a former reality TV star with whom Morgan had conducted a long-term transatlantic bromance (he didn’t quite put it that way but then he didn’t have to).

The ending was just as surreal with Morgan using an exclusive interview with the leader of the free-world as an excuse to get in some bonus digs at embattled Premier League manager Arsène Wenger.

“Arsenal are looking for a new leader,” he said, waving a Gunners jersey with “Trump” on the back in the President’s face. “Attacking philosophy...only wants big trophies.”

By now even Trump was a bit bemused – though he will have doubtless agreed this had been “a remarkable interview full of surprises and personal revelations”. Those of us whose names don’t feature words such as “Piers” and “Morgan” may have wondered if that conclusion wasn’t another example of the fake news the President so passionately rails against.