May hits back over Trump t weet

THE diplomatic row between Britain and the US over the Parsons Green terror attack escalated last night after Theresa May chastised Donald Trump in a TV interview.

Appearing on ABC’s This Week programme, which is due to be screened today, Mrs May hit back at a tweet by the President after Friday’s incident which read: ‘Another attack in London by a loser terrorist. These are sick and demented people who were in the sights of Scotland Yard. Must be proactive!’

In the interview, a clearly irked Mrs May told host George Stephanopolos: ‘I don’t think it’s helpful for anyone to speculate on what is an ongoing investigation. The police and security services are doing the work necessary to discover the full circumstances of this cowardly attack… and to identify all who are responsible.’

She declined to discuss whether Trump had offered any kind of apology in a phone call he made on Friday after the tweet. But Mr Trump’s National Security Adviser H. R. McMaster has reportedly been tasked with cleaning up what officials are privately calling his ‘latest mess’.

Late on Friday McMaster claimed the President was ‘speaking generally’ about Scotland Yard and not implying police had dropped the ball: ‘For years Scotland Yard has been a leader, as our FBI has been a leader, so… I think he didn’t mean anything beyond that.’

After the Manchester attack, UK intelligence, including the name of the attacker and pictures of the explosive device, were leaked to the US media by US government sources, causing Britain to temporarily cease intelligence-sharing.

Mrs May said she would make clear to Mr Trump that ‘intelligence that is shared between our law enforcement agencies must remain secure’.

Former Ukip leader Nigel Farage yesterday defended Mr Trump’s actions. ‘My suspicion is that Trump will be proved to be right,’ the close ally of the President told Fox News.