Donald Trump blasts 'most dishonest Fake News reporting' after Charlottesville backlash

Donald Trump has blasted the media for “some of the worst and most dishonest Fake News” reporting as he travelled back to the White House after a tumultuous vacation at his golf club.

The US President’s comments came as he returned from a golfing break in New Jersey and after he received a barrage of criticism for failing to condemn far-right groups following violence at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville.

In a tweet that has been shared tens of thousands of times, he wrote: “Heading back to Washington after working hard and watching some of the worst and most dishonest Fake News reporting I have ever seen!”

It was not immediately clear which news organisation or which stories in particular the US leader was referring to.

But it comes after he suggested there were some “very fine people on both sides” of the marches in Charlottesville, which led to 32-year-old Heather Heyer’s death when a car ploughed into anti-fascist protesters.

Ms Heyer’s mother joined widespread criticism of Trump’s comments, along with public figures including Prime Minister Theresa May and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

After the White House reportedly contacted her mother, Susan Bro, with one of the phone calls said to have come during her daughter’s funeral, she said she refuses to speak to Trump.

In response to the leader’s comments, Mrs May said there is “no equivalence between those who propound fascist views and those who oppose them.”

Trump said there was "blame on both sides” of the violence in Virginia.