Trump rages at 'haters' after uproar at his threat to shoot looters in Minnesota

Donald Trump has addressed the uproar over his tweets amid the Minnesota protests that suggested "when the looting starts, the shooting starts",

The president sparked a fury of backlash over tweets that seemingly suggested protesters should be shot in Minneapolis for the rioting, looting, and arson that took place following the death of George Floyd.

"Looting leads to shooting, and that's why a man was shot and killed in Minneapolis on Wednesday night – or look at what just happened in Louisville with 7 people shot. I don't want this to happen, and that's what the expression put out last night means," Mr Trump wrote on Friday.

His tweet went on to state: "It was spoken as a fact, not as a statement. It's very simple, nobody should have any problem with this other than the haters, and those looking to cause trouble on social media. Honour the memory of George Floyd!"

Twitter labelled a tweet by the president on late Thursday evening as "glorifying violence" after Mr Trump denounced protesters in Minneapolis who were acting violently.

In two tweets, the president called the protesters "thugs" before stating that "when the looting starts, the shooting starts". Outrage quickly mounted following the tweets, as people expressed concerns the president's words could further incite violence instead of helping to diffuse the situation.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said in a press conference on Friday that Mr Trump's tweets were not helpful to the situation.

"It was unnecessary," Mr Walz said. "I didn't know he's going to tweet, he certainly can... It's just not helpful." The governor added the tweets just "added fuel to the fire" of an already volatile situation developing in Minneapolis.

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