Donald Trump has come under fire after appearing to respond to the Barcelona attack with an untrue story about a US General who buried terrorists' bodies with pigs.

"Study what General Pershing of the United States did to terrorists when caught," the President of the United States tweeted on Thursday night, 45 minutes after condemning the attack that killed 13 people in Barcelona.

"There was no more Radical Islamic Terror for 35 years!"

The tweet was a reference to the story of US General John Pershing, who supposedly executed Islamist militants in the Philippines using bullets smeared with pig's blood.

Study what General Pershing of the United States did to terrorists when caught. There was no more Radical Islamic Terror for 35 years! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 17 August 2017

The story has been widely debunked by historians and fact-checkers such as Snopes.


But the "fake news" story has been used by Mr Trump before, most notably on the 2016 campaign trail when he told large crowds at a California rally that the tactic had stopped attacks for 42 years.

At the time the anecdote provoked disgust, on the grounds of it being both untrue and inciteful to racist violence.

On Thursday, critics from all sides of the political spectrum expressed horror at Mr Trump's apparent linking of the Pershing myth with the Barcelona attacks.

Dear wanna be despot @realDonaldTrump: Myth you cite is false. But even if true, the Constitution prevents mass executions with no trials. https://t.co/BpqShq4wSV — Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) 17 August 2017

Ted Lieu, a Democratic Representative, said the President was "endorsing mass murder" in his tweet, while US Senator Chris Murphy called it "total fiction".

CNN's Jake Tapper said Mr Trump had called on the people of the United States to "study a story that is not true".

Conservative pundit Bill Kristol also slammed the comment, quoting an article that said the President had "libelled an American hero" and signalled willingness "to commit war crimes".

This is a lie. Total fiction. It didn't happen. It's made up. Top to bottom. https://t.co/7oaJyxfroh — Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) 17 August 2017

The fiasco follows a day of provocation for the increasingly beleaguered President, who earlier in the day had tweeted in defence of Confederate-era statues that many in the USA are calling to be pulled down.

Before invoking General Pershing, Mr Trump had tweeted that the United States would do "whatever is necessary to help" following the Barcelona attacks.