Workers remove the monuments to Robert E. Lee, commander of the pro-slavery Confederate army in the American Civil War in Baltimore (Picture: REUTERS)

Donald Trump says he’s ‘sad’ to see ‘beautiful’ Confederate statues pulled down across America in the wake of Charlottesville.

He tweeted: ‘Sad to see the history and culture of our great country being ripped apart with the removal of our beautiful statues and monuments.

Matt Hancock warns UK is at 'tipping point' for more lockdown measures

‘You can’t change history, but you can learn from it. Robert E Lee, Stonewall Jackson – who’s next, Washington, Jefferson? So foolish!’

He added: ‘Also, the beauty that is being taken out of our cities, towns and parks will be greatly missed and never able to be comparably replaced!’


The president asked if we should tear down statues of George Washington because he was a slave owner during a heated press conference on Tuesday.

Sad to see the history and culture of our great country being ripped apart with the removal of our beautiful statues and monuments. You….. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 17, 2017

…can't change history, but you can learn from it. Robert E Lee, Stonewall Jackson – who's next, Washington, Jefferson? So foolish! Also… — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 17, 2017

…the beauty that is being taken out of our cities, towns and parks will be greatly missed and never able to be comparably replaced! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 17, 2017

Authorities in Baltimore worked overnight to remove statues (Picture: AP)

There were taken down over fear of reaction (Picture: Xinhua/REX/Shutterstock)

It follows the Charlottesville white supremacist marches at the weekend (Picture: Xinhua/REX/Shutterstock)

He was grilled by journalists over his handling of the Charlottesville white supremacist marches which left one woman dead and numerous others injured at the weekend.



Trump had a full-on meltdown and said he knows some ‘very fine people’ on both sides of the protests.

Brits queue to get into bars while they can as local lockdowns hit

Instead of drawing the line at questions about Charlottesville, he stoked the fire, adding: ‘What about the alt-left that came charging at the alt-right. Do they have any semblance of guilt?’

The conference quickly descended into chaos,and Trump went on a rant blasting ‘fake news’.

Trump said: ‘You had a group on one side and a group on the other and they had clubs and they came at each other.’ Then, to add more confusion, he said there was another group who came in ‘violently’.

He said the driver behind the Charlottesville attack ‘is a murderer and what he did was a horrible, horrible, inexcusable thing’, but stopped short of calling it terrorism when probed by a reporter.

He added: ‘I think the driver of the car is a disgrace… you can call it terrorism, you can call it murder, you can call it whatever you want.’

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video

The president’s news conference was highjacked by journalists who wanted to grill him on Charlottesville (Picture: REUTERS)

White supremacist groups clashed with hundreds of counter-protesters during the “Unite The Right” rally (Picture: Barcroft)

Protesters block both directions of the Interstate 580 freeway during a rally against racism in Oakland, California (Picture: Getty Images)

Those who witnessed the march saw less aggressive treatment on whites when they attacked police (Picture: Getty Images)