President Donald Trump has accidentally appeared on stage alongside a doctored image of the US presidential seal which seemed to mock his love of golf and the controversy over Russian links.

The version that appeared behind Mr Trump during a speech had the eagle at the centre of the seal carrying a number of golf clubs rather than arrows.

The eagle also had two heads rather than one, bearing a resemblance to Russia's coat of arms, which features the heads of two birds turned away from each other.

The image formed part of the backdrop as Mr Trump took to the stage for a speech to the conservative student group Turning Point USA on Tuesday.

CNN reported that an audiovisual aide for the group had been fired after the blunder, with a source telling the broadcaster that there was “zero malicious intent”.

It was claimed that one of the group’s team had searched on Google for a version of the presidential seal to use for the video display and had accidentally selected the wrong image.