The White House will not intervene in a US Navy disciplinary process that could see an Iraq War veteran accused of war crimes removed from his unit.

The announcement comes despite two tweets from Donald Trump suggesting he did not want Edward Gallagher to be thrown out of the Navy SEALs.

Gallagher was demoted after being found guilty at a court martial of bringing discredit to the armed forces by posing for a photograph with the dead body of a captured teenage Isis member.

The same court cleared him of other charges which included killing the severely wounded teenager, shooting civilians and threatening to kill any comrades who reported his behaviour.

The Navy demoted him but the demotion was overturned by Mr Trump.

Everyone Trump has fired or forced out Show all 13 1 /13 Everyone Trump has fired or forced out Everyone Trump has fired or forced out John Bolton Trump claimed to have fired Bolton, his national security adviser, while Bolton claimed he offered to resign. An anonymous White House source that Bolton's departure came as a result of the national security adviser working too independently of the president AFP/Getty Everyone Trump has fired or forced out Anthony Scaramucci Scaramucci lasted only six days in his role as Trump's communications director before being fired by John Kelly, the incoming chief of staff Getty Everyone Trump has fired or forced out Rick Perry Rick Perry announced his resignation just as he became embroiled in the president's impeachment scandal. The White House said Mr Perry was asked by Donald Trump to work with Rudy GIuliani in regards to Ukraine. AP Everyone Trump has fired or forced out Rex Tillerson Tillerson, Trump's first secretary of state, was fired after a series of clashes with the president over policy Getty Everyone Trump has fired or forced out James Mattis Mattis served as secretary of defense from the beginning of Trump's administration until retiring on 1 January 2019. However, the president later claimed that he had "essentially fired" Mattis Getty Everyone Trump has fired or forced out James Comey Comey was fired as director of the FBI early in Trump's presidency after serving in the role for four years prior. His dismissal is widely thought to have been related to the Russia investigation Getty Everyone Trump has fired or forced out Reince Priebus Priebus, Trump's first chief of staff, was forced out after six tumultuous months AFP/Getty Everyone Trump has fired or forced out David Shulkin Veterans affairs secretary Shulkin claims that he was fired, the White House claims that he resigned Getty Everyone Trump has fired or forced out John Kelly Kelly, Trump's second chief of staff, was forced out after 17 months in office. His departure was a confused affair though it is clear that Trump wanted Kelly out AFP/Getty Everyone Trump has fired or forced out Michael Flynn Flynn lasted 24 days as Trump's national security adviser before being fired for lying to the FBI Getty Everyone Trump has fired or forced out Lee Cisna Cisna served as director of citizen and immigration services between October 2017 and June 2019 before being asked to resign amid a major personnel change in the department of homeland security Everyone Trump has fired or forced out Madeline Westerhout Westerhout served as Trump's personal assistant after leaking private information about his family AFP/Getty Everyone Trump has fired or forced out Mira Ricardel Ricardel was forced out of her role as Deputy National Security Advisor after first lady Melania Trump publicly called for her to be fired

When military authorities pressed on with plans to remove Gallagher from the unit, Mr Trump tweeted: "The Navy will NOT be taking away Warfighter and Navy Seal Eddie Gallagher's Trident Pin. This case was handled very badly from the beginning. Get back to business!"

Senior defence officials apparently said they would resign or allow themselves to be fired by pressing on with the disciplinary procedure despite the president's opposition.

However, on Sunday a US official said that the White House would not intervene and that the navy had been informed of this on Friday.

Richard Spencer, the navy secretary, denied threatening to resign but did say the disciplinary procedure against Gallagher would continue.

He acknowledged that the president was able to override the process but said he did not believe that Mr Trump's tweets in themselves constituted a formal order.

He said: "I need a formal order to act. I don't interpret them as a formal order."