Britain woke up on Thursday morning to find the British-American special relationship under threat after Donald Trump launched a scathing overnight attack on Theresa May, dismissively telling her not to criticise him.

The president’s public outburst was a response to Downing Street’s earlier statement calling him out for retweeting videos from the far-right group Britain First, which the prime minister’s spokesman said used “hateful narratives that peddle lies and stoke tensions”.

The US president responded in a tweet on Wednesday evening:

.@Theresa_May, don’t focus on me, focus on the destructive Radical Islamic Terrorism that is taking place within the United Kingdom. We are doing just fine! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 30, 2017

British politicians, including senior members of May’s government, were quick to respond. Sajid Javid, the secretary of state for communities and local government, had criticised Trump’s initial tweet.

So POTUS has endorsed the views of a vile, hate-filled racist organisation that hates me and people like me. He is wrong and I refuse to let it go and say nothing — Sajid Javid (@sajidjavid) November 29, 2017

Fellow Conservatives echoed his views. George Freeman responded:

Well said Saj. This is a sad & low moment for the West, & AngloAmerican relations, which betrays a deep ignorance of the very real challenges of tackling the insidious rise of extremism and prejudice that threatens us all. https://t.co/0Yc3q1ShGB — George Freeman MP (@Freeman_George) November 30, 2017

The Tory MP for Romsey and Southampton North, Caroline Nokes, tweeted that she was “Proud to stand with Javid” on the issue.

The Liberal Democrat leader, Vince Cable, described Trump as an “evil racist” in a tweet, urging May to end a “humiliating dependence of #Brexit Britain on goodwill of evil racist. Cancel visit.”



New @realDonaldTrump insult to @theresa_may. She must end humiliating dependence of #Brexit Britain on goodwill of evil racist. Cancel visit — Vince Cable (@vincecable) November 30, 2017

The UK’s former transport secretary, Andrew Adonis, said he could not think of “a more insulting or destructive public communication from a US president to a British PM since the American civil war”. May should summon the American ambassador to London, he added.

I hope the Prime Minister will now summon the United States Ambassador and tell him the President’s statements are unacceptable. I cannot think of a more insulting or destructive public communication from a US President to a British PM since the American civil war! — Andrew Adonis (@Andrew_Adonis) November 30, 2017

The director of communications for May’s Conservative party, Carrie Symonds, was not impressed either, pointing out that Trump had first used the wrong Twitter handle for May. “And that’s just the start,” she said.



Wrong twitter handle. And that's just the start pic.twitter.com/Vzw3mA905v — Carrie Symonds (@carriesymonds) November 30, 2017

British MPs queued up to suggest that Trump’s planned state visit to the UK should be cancelled. The Labour MP for Rhonda Chris Bryant tweeted:

Trump has now deliberately and knowingly lined himself up behind the fascist group Britain First. He is not welcome. — Chris Bryant (@RhonddaBryant) November 30, 2017

Matthew Pennycook MP said:

Enough is enough. Trump was offered a state visit with unseemly haste. After the events of the past 24 hours the idea it can go ahead is preposterous. The Prime Minister must cancel it. Simple as that. — Matthew Pennycook MP (@mtpennycook) November 30, 2017

John Woodcock MP described Trump as “an unedifying disgrace” who “diminishes his great office”.

The Conservative MP Hugo Swire suggested that Trump might face a tough time with the public if he did come to the UK, tweeting:

Think when Trump comes over, if he does come over, he should get to meet some of the locals! — Hugo Swire (@HugoSwire) November 30, 2017

On Thursday morning, the prime minister’s office said it would not yet respond to Trump’s tweet directed at May, but that it stood by its earlier statement calling him out for retweeting Britain First. May’s spokesman also made clear Trump’s planned state visit to London still stood, although pressure was growing for her to rescind the invite.

Meral Hussein-Ece, a Liberal Democrat peer, summed up what appeared to be many people’s feelings on the issue:



So this is the 'Special Relationship' between US & UK? - involves promoting UK facist hate groups, then telling UK PM where to go when she offers the mildest of rebukes? — Baroness Hussein-Ece (@meralhece) November 30, 2017

Brendan Cox, the widower of the former Labour MP Jo Cox whose killer shouted “Britain first” before he shot and stabbed her, called on Trump to take his own advice to May and focus on US domestic problems:

You have a mass shooting every single day in your country, your murder rate is many times that of the UK, your healthcare system is a disgrace, you can’t pass anything through a congress that you control. I would focus on that. https://t.co/SNcqOZGvLQ — Brendan Cox (@MrBrendanCox) November 30, 2017

In the US, a member of Trump’s party, Senator Orrin Hatch, the second highest ranking official of the Senate, also appeared to rally to May’s defence, calling her “one of the great world leaders”.



Hatch met May last week to discuss security threats.

“PM @theresa_may is one of the great world leaders, I have incredible love and respect for her and for the way she leads the United Kingdom, especially in the face of turbulence.” -OGH



(Photo: Hatch at 10 Downing Street last Tuesday) pic.twitter.com/KQoH2LoRe9 — Senator Hatch Office (@senorrinhatch) November 30, 2017

The attention Trump has drawn to Britain First’s deputy leader, Jayda Fransen, appears to have boosted her social media popularity. Research by Hope Not Hate has suggested that the far-right have been successful in exploiting terrorist attacks in the UK to gain social media followers.

Donald Trump has been retweeting Britain First leader and rampant anti-Muslim activist Jayda Fransen. See how her online following has spiked following recent terror attacks: https://t.co/Zx2aj0KzZk pic.twitter.com/5I8llyLm4M — HOPE not hate (@hopenothate) November 29, 2017

According to Hope Not Hate’s data, Fransen had just 6,000 Twitter followers in March. By November this had reached 52,000. In the last 24 hours since Trump’s retweets, Fransen has gained an additional 26,000 followers.

Britain First has also sought to capitalise on the exposure. Its Facebook page has 1.9m likes, and on Wednesday it changed its cover photo to a picture of Donald Trump, before making multiple posts boasting about the president’s retweets.

The Britain First Facebook page has been boasting about the president’s retweets Photograph: Britain First/Facebook

The Twitter spat, though, might also provide an unexpected boost to May’s faltering popularity at home.

