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Republican Paul Ryan - the highest ranking member of Donald Trump's party in the House of Representatives - has been apparently caught on camera in a fuming, four-letter tirade over a press conference on the President's Muslim ban.

The House Speaker appeared to have been recorded ranting at aides after a fraught press conference on the chaos that has followed Trump's executive order.

He insisted he supported the ban, but said its rollout had been "regrettable."

And he said the party's Congressional leadership was only made aware of the contents of the Order "as it was being rolled out."

But as he left the podium, he was apparently heard fuming: "F**k. Waste of my f***ing time."

(Image: Barcroft Media)

Trump signed the order on Friday - Holocaust Memorial Day. It indefinitely bans Syrian refugees from entering the US.

The order also suspends all refugee programmes for 120 days, and bans entry to the US for citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries.

On top of serious questions over the morality and legality of banning people from the country based on their nationality or religion, the procedure of introducing the order has been widely criticised.

Relevant government agencies - including the Secretaries of Homeland Security and Defence - were not made aware of the specifics of the order before Trump signed it.

There followed huge confusion at airports - and officials being unsure of whether green card holders were included in the ban.

During the press conference, Ryan said: “Clearly none of us want to see people with green cards get implicated in this.”

He also raised concerns about the rhetoric surrounding the ban, which he said could be used as a “recruiting tool - and I think that’s dangerous”

Representative Ryan was Mitt Romney's running mate in the 2012 Presidential Eleciton.

He was elected House Speaker in 2015 after the retirement of John Boehner.