Trump taunts one of America's oldest allies in a fiery tweet
- Trump defended his retweets of inflammatory anti-Muslim videos from an ultranationalist far-right group from the UK on Tuesday night.
- The US president seemingly intended to tweet to British Prime Minister Theresa May, but linked to a different Twitter user.
Trump continued fueling the fire from his early-morning tweets on Tuesday night, launching another tweet intended for British Prime Minister Theresa May.
The US president earlier in the day retweeted inflammatory videos posted by Britain First, an ultra-nationalist far-right group that peddles anti-Muslim conspiracy theories. The videos, intending to depict Muslims in a bad light, were given clickbait titles. The White House press secretary refused to acknowledge whether the videos were authentic.
"Britain First seeks to divide communities by their use of hateful narratives that peddle lies and stoke tensions," a spokesman for May said Wednesday. "British people overwhelmingly reject the prejudiced rhetoric of the far right which is the antithesis of the values this country represents, decency, tolerance and respect."
Trump, who appeared to take note, tweeted: "Theresa @theresamay, don't focus on me, focus on the destructive Radical Islamic Terrorism that is taking place within the United Kingdom. We are doing just fine!"
Trump's tweet linked to a different Twitter user, instead of May's actual handle: "@theresa_may." The tweet was later deleted.
Nineteen minutes later, Trump tweeted again, this time with May's correct handle.
Trump's previous social-media musings on Wednesday were condemned by other UK leaders, including Sajid Javid, a cabinet minister with a Muslim heritage: "So POTUS has endorsed the views of a vile, hate-filled racist organization that hates me and people like me. He is wrong and I refuse to let it go and say nothing."