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The White House has defended Donald Trump after he shared a string of anti-Muslim videos, claiming the tweets were about national security.

President Trump was blasted on Wednesday for retweeting several unverified videos posted by the deputy leader of hateful far-right group Britain First, Jayda Fransen.

Downing Street said Mr Trump was “wrong” to share posts from the group, which it said uses “hateful narratives to peddle lies and stoke tensions”.

The three anti-Islamic tweets include footage of migrants allegedly assaulting a boy on crutches and a video purporting to show a Muslim damaging a statue of the Virgin Mary.

But on Wednesday evening, a White House spokesman stubbornly refused to acknowledge Mr Trump had done anything wrong.

“It's never the wrong time to talk about security and safety for the American people," said Trump aide Raj Shah.

Speaking aboard Air Force One as the US president travelled to Missouri, Mr Shah said the tweets "were about national security and protecting" Americans.

He said Mr Trump has long raised security and immigration issues in speeches and tweets and the videos are nothing different.

Donald Trump's shakes - in pictures 14 show all Donald Trump's shakes - in pictures 1/14 North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un shakes hands with US President Donald Trump at the start of their historic US-North Korea summit AFP/Getty Images 2/14 North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un shakes hands with US President Donald Trump at the start of their historic US-North Korea summit AFP/Getty Images 3/14 US President Donald Trump shakes hands with North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un as they sit down for their historic US-North Korea summit, at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa island in Singapore AFP/Getty Images 4/14 Mr Trump and Kim shake hands for the cameras before sitting down to sign a document Reuters 5/14 US President Donald Trump shakes hands with North Korea leader Kim Jong-un at the Capella resort on Sentosa AP 6/14 Le Crunch Trump and President Emmanuel Macron shakes hands at the US ambassador's residence, on the sidelines of the NATO summit, in Brussels AFP/Getty Images 7/14 The Hug Swerve Back in 2016, Hillary Clinton swerves a hug from Trump following the first presidential debate AFP/Getty Images 8/14 The Comey Shimmy FBI director James Comey rejects a Donald Trump handshake in favour of a handshake 9/14 The Soft Touch Theresa May shakes hands with Trump in Washington earlier this year Getty Images 10/14 The Power Struggle President Donald Trump reaches to shake hands with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in the Oval Office AP 11/14 Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping AFP/Getty Images 12/14 Donald Trump and Russia's President Vladimir Putin AFP/Getty Images 13/14 US President Barack Obama and President-elect Donald Trump shake hands during a transition planning meeting in the Oval Office at the White House AFP/Getty Images 14/14 Vice president-elect Mike Pence and Republican president-elect Donald Trump shake hands Getty Images 1/14 North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un shakes hands with US President Donald Trump at the start of their historic US-North Korea summit AFP/Getty Images 2/14 North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un shakes hands with US President Donald Trump at the start of their historic US-North Korea summit AFP/Getty Images 3/14 US President Donald Trump shakes hands with North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un as they sit down for their historic US-North Korea summit, at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa island in Singapore AFP/Getty Images 4/14 Mr Trump and Kim shake hands for the cameras before sitting down to sign a document Reuters 5/14 US President Donald Trump shakes hands with North Korea leader Kim Jong-un at the Capella resort on Sentosa AP 6/14 Le Crunch Trump and President Emmanuel Macron shakes hands at the US ambassador's residence, on the sidelines of the NATO summit, in Brussels AFP/Getty Images 7/14 The Hug Swerve Back in 2016, Hillary Clinton swerves a hug from Trump following the first presidential debate AFP/Getty Images 8/14 The Comey Shimmy FBI director James Comey rejects a Donald Trump handshake in favour of a handshake 9/14 The Soft Touch Theresa May shakes hands with Trump in Washington earlier this year Getty Images 10/14 The Power Struggle President Donald Trump reaches to shake hands with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in the Oval Office AP 11/14 Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping AFP/Getty Images 12/14 Donald Trump and Russia's President Vladimir Putin AFP/Getty Images 13/14 US President Barack Obama and President-elect Donald Trump shake hands during a transition planning meeting in the Oval Office at the White House AFP/Getty Images 14/14 Vice president-elect Mike Pence and Republican president-elect Donald Trump shake hands Getty Images

Press secretary Sarah Sanders also defended the president, telling reporters Mr Trump shared the videos to start a conversation about security.

"Whether it is a real video, the threat is real," Ms Sanders said, according to CNN.

"The threat needs to be addressed. The threat has to be talked about and that is what the President is doing in bringing that up."

Theresa May had faced growing pressure to condemn President Trump’s retweets with many calling on her to scrap his upcoming UK visit.

Number 10 told the Standard: "Britain First seeks to divide communities through their use of hateful narratives which peddle lies and stoke tensions.

"They cause anxiety to law-abiding people. British people overwhelmingly reject the prejudiced rhetoric of the far-right, which is the antithesis of the values that this country represents – decency, tolerance and respect.

"It is wrong for the President to have done this."

The hate-filled tweets had been originally posted by Jayda Fransen, 31, from Penge, who is currently on bail facing four charges of causing religiously aggravated harassment.

Brendan Cox, the widower of Jo Cox, Piers Morgan and Labour MP David Lammy were among the first to criticise the US leader.

Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokeswoman Jo Swinson joined in with the condemnations, saying the “mask has yet again slipped” and exposed the “atrocious views of President Trump” while Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn called the tweets “abhorrent”.