Trump was offended that a Republican senator compared him to Winston Churchill - and called to let him know

Evening Standard/Getty Images

Winston Churchill.

• Republican Sen. David Perdue once compared President Donald Trump to World War II-era UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
• Trump did not find this to be a compliment, Perdue told Business Insider.

A top Republican once compared President Donald Trump to World War II-era UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill - but the president did not find this to be a compliment.

Republican Sen. David Perdue of Georgia, who is close with the president, chatted with The New York Times in November for a story about Trump doubting the accuracy of the infamous "Access Hollywood" tape. That recording, released a month prior to the 2016 presidential election, featured Trump making vulgar comments about women.

Perdue told The Times that Trump is "nobody's choir boy, but neither were people like Winston Churchill, for example." He added that, like Churchill was in Britain, Trump "is a historic person of destiny at a time and place in America when we've got to make a right-hand turn here."

Trump took offense to that comparison, Perdue told Business Insider.

"And so [Trump] saw that New York Times article - he called me up and said, 'So you think I'm like Churchill?'" Perdue said. "He didn't think that was a compliment."

Churchill is credited with turning around Britain's fate in the second World War, and is arguably the world leader most credited with defeating the Nazis.