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Trump `Misinterpreted' in Twitter Spat With May, Ambassador Says

“A lot of that stuff was probably misinterpreted,” said Woody Johnson on Trump-May twitter spat.

(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump’s spat with Theresa May over his retweeting anti-Muslim videos posted by a far-right group was all a misunderstanding, U.S. Ambassador to the U.K. Woody Johnson said on Tuesday.

"A lot of that stuff was probably misinterpreted," he told Radio 4’s Today program, adding that Trump only sought to protect Americans against terrorism. "He’s not going to go down the path of a lot of politicians and be namby-pamby about it."

The videos purported to show a “Muslim migrant” assaulting a Dutch person on crutches, an “Islamist mob” pushing a teenage boy off a roof and a Muslim man destroying a statue of the Virgin Mary.

Trump’s decision to share the videos to his 44.5 million followers last month led May’s office to condemn his actions. “@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!” Trump tweeted in response.

Despite Trump’s tendency to "ruffle feathers" in his quest to promote "security and prosperity," his relationship with the U.K. prime minister is "very, very good," Johnson insisted.

Asked if his much debated state visit to the U.K. would go ahead next year, Johnson said "I think he will come. I’m hoping he’ll come."

To contact the reporter on this story: Svenja O'Donnell in London at sodonnell@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Flavia Krause-Jackson at fjackson@bloomberg.net, Kevin Costelloe

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