Donald Trump has waded into the aftermath of a suspected terror attack outside the Houses of Parliament, lashing out at the “animals” behind the crash which injured at least three people.
“Another terror attack in London,” the US president tweeted. “These animals are crazy and must be dealt with through toughness and strength!”
His intervention came five hours after a Ford Fiesta ploughed into cyclists and pedestrians in Westminster. The car’s driver, a man in his late 20s, was arrested by armed police on suspicion of terror offences.
Scotland Yard said the man had not yet been formally identified but was not thought to have been known to authorities.
Metropolitan Police assistant commissioner Neil Basu said the suspect was “not currently co-operating”.
Mr Trump has previously berated London mayor Sadiq Khan over terror attacks in the capital, accusing him of doing a “terrible job”.
After 11 people were murdered by three knifemen in an Isis-inspired rampage in London Bridge last June, the American leader misrepresented a quote from the Labour politician to attack him.
“At least 7 dead and 48 wounded in terror attack,” the president wrote on his personal Twitter account before the confirmed death toll rose, “and Mayor of London says there is ‘no reason to be alarmed!’”
Mr Khan had said the public should not be alarmed about an increased police presence on the streets.
In July, the president used a newspaper interview ahead of his visit to the UK to blame Mr Khan for attacks in London and fuel a personal feud with the capital’s mayor.
“You have a mayor who has done a terrible job in London. He has done a terrible job,” he said.
“Take a look at the terrorism that is taking place. Look at what is going on in London. I think he has done a very bad job on terrorism.”
The US president is typically quick to tweet his reaction to Islamist terror attacks around the world.
He did not personally acknowledge a deadly attack outside a mosque in Finsbury park, north London, last year, when Darren Osborne drove a van into a group of Muslim worshippers, killing one and injuring 10.
