President Donald Trump blasted The New York Times on Thursday for misleading its readers about the size of the contingent the New England Patriots brought to the White House on Wednesday.

The Patriots were in Washington to commemorate February's come-from-behind Super Bowl Victory. The Times tweeted a pair of photos – one showing more than 100 players and staff occupying the White House steps while visiting Barack Obama in 2015, and another shot Wednesday showing about 60 people in the same place.

The paper's apples-to-oranges comparison – many Patriots staffers were seated in chairs, out of camera range – drew sharp responses, first from the team and then from the president.

'Failing @nytimes, which has been calling me wrong for two years, just got caught in a big lie concerning New England Patriots visit to W.H.,' Trump tweeted.

President Donald Trump renewed his long-running feud with The New York Times on Thursday, blasting the newspaper's sports desk for making an apples-to-oranges photo comparison that made the New England Patriots' enthusiasm for his presidency look tepid

The New York Times' sports Twitter account posted these photos showing more team members and staff with Obama in 2015 than with Trump on Wednesday

The Patriots account complained that there were just as many people there, but they were off-camera during the Trump photo

The official Patriots Twitter account weighed in Wednesday night, about four hours after the Times began its social media push: 'These photos lack context. Facts: In 2015, over 40 football staff were on the stairs. In 2017, they were seated on the South Lawn.'

The Times tweeted an update a half-hour later, saying: 'Patriots say # of players was smaller this year than 2015 (34 vs. 50) but total delegation was roughly the same.'

The Patriots shoved back 15 minutes later, comparing a photo from Wednesday with one of the team visiting President George W Bush after the 2004 Super Bowl.

'Comparable photos: The last time the #Patriots won two Super Bowls in three years, 36 players visited the White House. Today, we had 34,' they wrote.

In an update, NYT said the overall delegation was the same but that there were fewer players for Trump - 34, compared to Obama's 50. Some players had stayed home for political reasons

Patriots then tweeted again, saying that a 2004 photo of George W Bush with 36 people was more 'comparable' because that was the last time Patriots won two Super Bowls in three yeara

'Who cares?' asked sports blog Chowder & Champions. 'You're getting to [sic] caught up in all this.'

If the team were reaching to defend Trump, it's hardly surprising: Owner Robert Kraft was a public Trump supporter, and MVP Tom Brady was spotted with a 'Make America Great Again' cap in his locker in the run-up to November.

And at Wednesday's event Trump boasted about how Patriots head coach Bill Belichick had written him a 'beautiful' letter before the election.

Trump said that after he expressed an interest in reading the letter aloud at a rally, Belichick had written him another that 'toned it way up.'

'It was much better. It was much better. He made that the greatest letter, and I did very well in that state,' he said.

But Brady was notably absent from the celebration of the team's Super Bowl win - and went unmentioned by Trump in his speech.

The MVP had said in a statement that 'In light of some recent developments, I am unable to attend today's ceremony, as I am attending to some personal family matters.

'Hopefully, if we accomplish the goal of winning a championship in the future years, we will back on the South Lawn again soon. Have a great day.'

The photo row was comparable to Trump's anger at the media for saying fewer attended his inauguration compared to Obama's first inauguration

The photo row was comparable to Trump's anger at the media for saying fewer attended his inauguration compared to Obama's first inauguration