Hollywood actor Robert De Niro has slammed President Trump for his handling of the coronavirus in the US. 

The 76 year-old has been one of Trump's most vocal celebrity critics going back to before he was elected in 2016.

De Niro described the situation at the White House as ‘Shakespearean,' saying ‘you’ve got a lunatic saying things that people are trying to dance around’.

“It’s appalling, it’s appalling. He wants to be re-elected, he doesn’t even care how many people die," De Niro said. 

Challenged by Newsnight  host Emily Maitlis that Trump's fanbase would disagree, the Oscar-winning star replied: "No, he doesn't care for those people. And the people who he pretends to care about are the people he has the most disdain for because he could care less about them.

“They might like to tell themselves or delude themselves, but he doesn't care about them.”

De Niro has been self-isolating at his home in New York and described how the city feels.

“It's been very strange because New York is kind of like a ghost town, it's surreal then you see other parts of the world, other great big cities of the world, are also in the same situation.

“It's interesting, it's kind of like a science fiction movie but it's real."