New leaks suggest that Donald Trump's White House is ready to take on the European Union and that Trump aid Steve Bannon has outlined his thoughts on the EU to a top German diplomat during a private meeting.

Relations have gotten off to a rocky start - the US president has labelled the EU "a vehicle for Germany."

Sources have told Reuters that White House chief strategist Steve Bannon and a German diplomat held a meeting, during which he outlined his belief that the EU is a "flawed construct."

The news agency says that he then indicated that the US will negotiate deals with EU nations bilaterally, not as a bloc.

This echoes public comments made by Donald Trump which stated that multinational deals with the EU are effectively bilateral deals with Germany as it is the most powerful member of the union.

Peter Wittig, Germany's ambassador to Washington, did not comment on these reports, while an official from the White House disputed the Reuters story, "They only spoke for about three minutes and it was just a quick hello," a spokesperson said.

Three sources said that the talks were substantive and that Mr Bannon outlined his "world view."

The Trump aid founded and ran the right-wing news service Breitbart before joining Mr Trump's campaign.

He is credited as a key architect of the New Yorker's populist policies and election victory.

A recent cover of Time Magazine described the 63-year-old as 'The Great Manipulator.'