Donald Trump praises Republican congressman Greg Gianforte who body-slammed reporter

President Donald Trump has publicly praised a Republican congressman for body-slamming a newspaper reporter who was hospitalised by the attack.

Speaking at a campaign rally in Missoula, Montana, the president mimicked the actions of throwing someone violently to the ground and said: “Any guy that can do a body slam, he’s my kind of — he’s my guy” Mr Trump added: “He’s a great guy, tough cookie.”

He was referring to the assault in May last year when Montana Congressman Greg Gianforte attacked Guardian political correspondent Ben Jacobs after he asked a question about healthcare.

To cheers from the crowd of about 8,000 people, the president said: “Greg is smart. And by the way, never wrestle him. You understand. Never.”

Mr Trump said he was attending a meeting of world leaders in Rome when he first heard about the incident.

“We endorsed Greg very early. But I heard that he body-slammed a reporter,” he added. “This was the day of the election or just before, and I thought, ‘Oh, this is terrible! He’s going to lose the election.

“And then I said, ‘Wait a minute, I know Montana pretty well, I think it might help him.’ And it did.”

The US lawmaker, who was elected into Congress following the attack in Bozeman, Montana, paid a $385 (£296) fine and completed 40 hours of community service and 20 hours of anger management counselling. He also donated $50,000 (£38,000) to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Mr Jacobs was taken to hospital by ambulance with an elbow injury suffered in the incident.

The Guardian’s US Editor John Mulholland demanded an apology from the president and said he feared the remarks risked “inviting other assaults on journalists both here and across the world where they often face far greater threats”.

“To celebrate an attack on a journalist who was simply doing his job is an attack on the first amendment by someone who has taken an oath to defend it,” he added.

Mr Trump also ramped up the immigration debate at last night’s rally, part of a three-day swing of western states ahead of next month’s key mid-term US elections aiming to fire up the Republican Party’s base support.

He blamed the rival Democratic Party for a caravan of immigrants from Central America heading for the US through Mexico and threatened to shut down America’s border if nothing was done to stop the “onslaught” of undocumented travellers.

“I’m willing to send the military to defend our southern border if necessary, all because of the illegal immigration onslaught brought by the Democrats,” he said.

“They want the caravan,” he said of Democrats. “It’s going to be an election of the caravan.”

Disagreements over immigration was also said to be the reason for a heated argument yesterday between two of Mr Trump’s senior Cabinet members.

White House Chief of Staff John Kelly and National Security Adviser John Bolton reportedly fought over plans to defend US border crossings in the row outside the Oval Office.

In a statement, Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders indicated there was no hard feelings.

“While we are passionate about solving the issue of illegal immigration, we are not angry at one another,” she said, adding: “Our administration is doing a great job on the border.”