Donald Trump has been accused of leading America with "the agenda of a white nationalist" by four congresswomen he has targeted.

The US president has faced a barrage of criticism for tweets in which he said female Democrat politicians should "go back and help fix" their "broken and crime-infested countries".

The four women he is believed to have been talking about have given a news conference in which they accused him of human rights abuses, racism and xenophobia and running the "the most corrupt administration in our history".

'If you hate our country, you can leave'

Congresswoman Ilhan Omar said: "This is the agenda of white nationalists... and now it's reached the White House."

The press conference attended by Ms Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rasida Tlaib and Ayanna Pressley came hours after Mr Trump doubled on his controversial rhetoric during a manufacturing showcase at the White House.


He refused to apologise for his original comments despite criticism at home and abroad, saying: "If you're not happy in the US, if you're complaining all the time, you can leave."

The Republican received warm applause from supporters when he made the comment, and angrily shouted down a journalist as she tried to ask him whether he was concerned that his tweets had been seen as racist.

Ms Omar and her colleagues - who are all US citizens - did not hold back in their assessment of the president, warning him that "we cannot and will not be silenced".

The former, who is originally from Somalia and the only congresswoman in the group not to have been born in the US, said Mr Trump had "openly violated every value our country aspires to hold".

She added: "The president is committing human rights abuses at the border, keeping children in cages and having human beings drinking out of toilets."

'Trump has a strategy to divide the country'

Ms Ocasio-Cortez, who was born in New York but is of Puerto Rican descent, said: "No matter what the president says, this country belongs to you, and it belongs to everyone."

Earlier, Ms Ocasio-Cortez told Sky News Mr Trump "relies on racism, division and anti-immigrant sentiment to consolidate power because he does not have a positive vision for the future of America".

She said it was "time to move on" from the 73-year-old, as well as "his conception of America that we have tried to move past for a long time".

Rasida Tlaib, of Michigan, reiterated the desire of the four - known in Washington as "The Squad" - to see the president removed from office.

As she called for impeachment proceedings to begin against Mr Trump, she said: "This is not the first nor the last time we will hear disgusting bigoted language from the president, this is who he is."

Image: Children in the busy border facilities in the US. Pic: ABC

The latest row to have enveloped the White House began on Sunday, when Mr Trump posted the original tweets.

The tweets said: "So interesting to see 'Progessive' Democrat Congresswomen, who originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe, the worst, most corrupt and inept anywhere in the world... now loudly and viciously telling the people of the United States, the greatest and most powerful Nation on earth, how our government should be run.

"Why don't they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came."

In a follow-up tweet, the president said they should apologise for the "foul language they have used" and "terrible things they have said", and that it was "so sad" Democrats had come out in support of the women.

He also went on to attack Ms Ocasio-Cortez directly, calling her and "this crowd" a "bunch of Communists" and "antisemitic" for comparing migrant detention centres to concentration camps.

Image: The cells are often full of children. Pic: US Custom and Border Protection. Pic: ABC

In response, the Democrat - who was elected last year - said his comments were the "hallmark of white supremacists" and that he was leading the Republican Party into "outright racism".

Ms Ocasio-Cortez told Sky News: "I think there's a strategy to divide the country, because the more this country is divided, the more he benefits from it.

"He does not believe in a prosperous future for our country. He believes that everything is a threat."

Many senior Democrats have condemned Mr Trump for his comments, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has written to party colleagues to say he "went beyond his own low standards".

Ms Pelosi called on Republicans to condemn the attacks, but one of few to have intervened is Senator Susan Collins, who said the president had gone "way over the line".

Mr Trump has also faced criticism from the UK, with Prime Minister Theresa May and Tory leadership candidates Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt united in branding his comments as "unacceptable".

Image: The four congresswomen are known in Washington as 'The Squad'

The war of words in the US will likely escalate in the coming days, with the Trump administration moving to end asylum protections for most Central American migrants.

According to a new rule published in the federal register, asylum seekers who pass through another country first will be ineligible for asylum at the US southern border.

The rule, expected to go into effect on Tuesday, applies to anyone arriving at the US-Mexico border - including children who have arrived alone.