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Donald Trump casually suggested an increase on anti-Semitic threats and violence could have been faked to "make people look bad", it was reported today.

He made the comments to a meeting of state attorneys general, according to one of the officials present.

There have been more than 30 bomb threats to Jewish centres across the US so far this week.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro told a Buzzfeed reporter : "He just said, 'Sometimes it's the reverse, to make people - or make others - look bad.' and he used the word 'reverse' I would say two or three times in his comments".

Shapiro noted the President had also said the threats were "reprehensible" and said he was not sure of the purpose of his comments.

(Image: REUTERS)

But it's not the first time the President has hinted a "false flag" operation might be underway to discredit his supporters, without offering any evidence.

In a jaw-dropping press conference earlier this month, he suggested his opponents were posing as Trump supporters and making anti-Semitic comments.

He said: “Some of it, can I be honest with you? And this has to do with racism and horrible things that are put up. Some of it is written by our opponents. You do know that. Do you understand that? You don’t think anybody would do a thing like that.

“Some of the signs you’ll see are not put up by the people who love or like Donald Trump, they’re put up by the other side and you think it’s like playing it straight?

"Some of that anger is caused by the other side. They'll do signs, they'll do drawings that are inappropriate. It won't be my people, it'll be people on the other side to anger people like you."

Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, said: “We are astonished by what the President reportedly said. It is incumbent upon the White House to immediately clarify these remarks.

"In light of the ongoing attacks on the Jewish community, it is also incumbent upon the President to lay out in his speech tonight his plans for what the federal government will do to address this rash of anti-Semitic incidents.”

Bomb threats were called in to Jewish community centres and schools in at least 13 US states yesterday.

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The threats, all of which appeared to be hoaxes, were received in Alabama, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Virginia, the JCC Association of North America said. For some centers, it was the second or third time this year they had been targeted.

Police in Mercer Island, Washington, also reported a community center was targeted by a bomb threat.

"Members of our community must see swift and concerted action from federal officials to identify and capture the perpetrator or perpetrators who are trying to instill anxiety and fear in our communities," David Posner, a director at the JCC Association, said in a statement.

The San Francisco office of the Anti-Defamation League, a watchdog group that monitors hate groups, received a bomb threat and was evacuated while police investigated, the Anti-Defamation League said in a statement.

Jewish groups, President Donald Trump and Israeli officials have condemned the surge in disruptive intimidation, as well as the vandalism of Jewish cemeteries.

Police said on Sunday about 100 headstones had been toppled at a Jewish cemetery in Philadelphia, about a week after a Jewish cemetery in St. Louis was vandalized.

(Image: REUTERS)

White House spokesman Sean Spicer raised the subject at a news briefing on Monday.

"The president continues to condemn these and any other forms of anti-Semitic and hateful acts in the strongest terms," he told reporters, saying they were in breach of the country's founding principles.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Justice Department's civil rights division have said they are investigating the threats alongside police, but little information has been made public about any perpetrators.

The Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School in Rockville, Maryland, and the Gesher Jewish Day School in Fairfax, Virginia, also received telephoned bomb threats, the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington said. Police later gave the all clear.

The JCC Association said there were 21 incidents of bomb threats called in to 13 JCCs and eight Jewish day schools on Monday.

Some Jewish groups see the vandalism and threats as a sign that anti-Semitic groups have been emboldened by Trump's election. His campaign last year drew the support of white supremacists and other right-wing groups, despite his disavowals of them.