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Trump tells Jimmy Fallon to 'be a man' after late night host expresses regret over ‘hair ruffling’ appearance

Donald Trump told US talk show host Jimmy Fallon to “be a man” and stop “whimpering” about the backlash he received for ruffling the then-presidential candidate’s hair when he was a guest on the Tonight Show.

Fallon told the Hollywood Reporter that he “made a mistake” during the September 2016 episode, when he asked to mess up the US president's famous blonde combover.

"I did not do it to 'normalize' him or to say I believe in his political beliefs or any of that stuff," he said, referring to some of the criticism he received from some quarters after the show aired.

He added: "I'm sorry. I don't want to make anyone angry — I never do and I never will. It's all in the fun of the show. I made a mistake. I'm sorry if I made anyone mad. And, looking back, I would do it differently."

Taking to Twitter to respond, Mr Trump said that Fallon was "now whimpering to all that he did the famous ‘hair show’ with me (where he seriously messed up my hair), & that he would have now done it differently because it is said to have ‘humanized’ me-he is taking heat."

Fallon had called him and said "monster ratings", he said, before going on to tell the talk show host to: "Be a man".

Fallon responded on Twitter with a nod to the plight of young immigrants caught up in administration policies.

“In honor of the President's tweet I'll be making a donation to RAICES in his name,” Fallon said.

RAICES, or the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services, is a non-profit organisation providing free or low-cost legal assistance to immigrant children and refugees in Texas.

The organisation last week raised more than $18m (£13.6m) through a Facebook crowdfunding campaign to help migrants currently detained at the US border due to the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” illegal immigration policy.

The plans, which have prompted condemnation from across the globe, saw more than 2,300 children separated from their parents and placed in detention centres across southern Texas.

Mr Trump announced last week border agencies would end the practice and reunite parents with their children, although authorities have not disclosed how they intend to do this.

Additional reporting by AP