British Prime Minister Theresa May has rebuked US President Donald Trump for claiming suspects in Friday’s London train blast were known to Scotland Yard in a series of terror tweets.
“I never think it’s helpful for anybody to speculate on what is an ongoing investigation,” she said.
Mr Trump described the attackers in a tweet as “loser terrorists” and “sick and demented people who were in the sights of Scotland Yard”.
The bomb rocked a London Underground train on Friday, injuring 22 people.
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In Friday morning’s tweets, Mr Trump appeared to chide UK authorities: “Must be proactive!”
In response to the US president’s remarks, London police said “any speculation is unhelpful”.
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!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 15, 2017
Loser terrorists must be dealt with in a much tougher manner.The internet is their main recruitment tool which we must cut off & use better!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 15, 2017
The president’s remarks sparked anger on Twitter, where Nick Timothy, a former senior aide to British Prime Minister Theresa May, echoed London police’s comments.
“True or not – and I’m sure he doesn’t know – this is so unhelpful from leader of our ally and intelligence partner,” he said.
True or not – and I'm sure he doesn't know – this is so unhelpful from leader of our ally and intelligence partner. https://t.co/ZndrTXFrAX
— Nick Timothy (@NickJTimothy) September 15, 2017
Former Conservative lawmaker Ben Howlett also weighed in, calling Mr Trump’s tweets “dangerous and inappropriate”.
It is highly unhelpful/dangerous and inappropriate for an ally to make announcements that share intelligence and undermine investigations https://t.co/rHcrE8oUNz
— Ben Howlett (@benhowlettuk) September 15, 2017
In a series of tweets on Friday, the Republican president claimed his administration had “made more progress in the last nine months” against the so-called Islamic State than his predecessor.
“Must be proactive & nasty!” he tweeted.
Mr Trump also renewed a call to shut down internet capabilities, which he said were a main recruitment tool for terrorists.
During the Republican presidential campaign in 2015, Mr Trump suggested he would ask Microsoft founder Bill Gates to cut off the internet because of terror recruitment.
“We’re losing a lot of people because of the internet,” Mr Trump said at the time, without elaborating.
“We have to see Bill Gates and a lot of different people that really understand what’s happening.”
“We have to talk to them about, maybe in certain areas, closing that internet up in some ways,” he added.
Mr Trump has in the past been accused of reacting to suspected terrorist incidents before the facts are fully known.
If he was leaking sensitive information on Friday, and not indulging in pure speculation as London police say, his tweet could amount to a security breach.
In May, US officials angered British authorities, when details about a deadly bomb attack at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester were leaked to American media.
The attacker’s identity and details of the investigation were revealed in US media before British authorities made the information public, while the New York Times published photographs from the scene, as well as images of the bomb.
The president also used Friday’s attack to promote his travel ban temporarily barring people from six Muslim-majority countries as well Syrian refugees from entering the US.
