Trump on Twitter posting: 'If I don't have it, I can't defend myself'

US President Donald Trump, who has garnered a massive following on social media, admits he sometimes tweets from bed, though he occasionally allows others to post his words.

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters upon arrival at the White House in Washington, Friday, Jan. 26, 2018, from the World Economic Forum Source: AAP

In an interview with Britain's ITV channel, he said he needed social media to communicate with voters in the era of what he termed fake news.

"If I don't have that form of communication I can't defend myself," Trump said in an interview broadcast on Sunday. "I get a lot of fake news, a lot of news that is very false or made up."

When asked about whether he was lying in bed with his phone thinking of how to wind people up, Trump said: "Well, perhaps sometimes in bed, perhaps sometimes at breakfast or lunch or whatever, but generally speaking during the early morning, or during the evening I can do whatever, but I am very busy during the day, very long hours. I am busy."

"I will sometimes just dictate out something really quickly and give it to one of my people to put it on," he said.

Asked about eating burgers and drinking Coke, Trump, 71, said: "I eat fine food, really from some of the finest chefs in the world, I eat healthy food, I also have some of that food on occasion... I think I eat actually quite well."

Trump said that he was very popular in the United Kingdom. Some British politicians have called for Trump not to visit and 1.86 million people have signed a petition asking for him to be banned from entering the United Kingdom.

"I get so much fan mail from people in your country - they love my sense of security, they love what I am saying about many different things," Trump said.

Trump would take a "tougher" approach to Brexit negotiations than British Prime Minister Theresa May.

He was pressed on how some women opposed him and he said he supported women and that many women understood that.

Trump said women in particular liked his support for a strong military as they often wanted to feel safe at home.

"There's nobody better than me on the military... I think women really like that. I think they want to be safe at home," Trump said. "I have tremendous respect for women."

"No, I wouldn't say I am a feminist. I mean, I think that would be maybe going too far: I am for women, I am for men, I am for everyone."