Donald Trump plans to make visiting foreign leaders walk across a drawbridge over a shark tank and promises Mexico will pay for the installation.

US taxpayers have footed the bill initially but Mexico’s president will be invited to reimburse them, before crossing the collapsible bridge to leave while Trump’s foot is poised over a pedal under his desk, he has announced on Twitter.

The US president tweeted: ‘He’s going to pay for those sharks, either with money or as food. He doesn’t know it yet but he’s going to get eaten for sure. They’re going to eat him so good.’

However, the situation escalated into a diplomatic standoff when Mexico’s president Enrique Peña Nieto tweeted: ‘I don’t think I’ll go to that meeting.’

A White House source said: “Trump was so angry, he asked an adviser to take his smartphone away and then pushed the pedal as the adviser crossed the bridge.”

Trump has also had trapdoors installed under chairs in meeting rooms to drop anyone with bad news directly into the tank, according to our source.

The source said: “One adviser asked why we were launching an investigation into voter fraud with no reason to think any took place, unlike, say, Russian hacking.

“Let’s just say the sharks didn’t go hungry that day.

“There are certain trigger phrases that need to be avoided at all cost, like ‘popular vote’, ‘crowd size’ and ‘hands’.

“And that senior management team that resigned from the State Department – they didn’t resign.”