British officials are expressing frustration with President Trump’s response to a terror attack in London on Friday, calling his comments “unhelpful.”
Trump tweeted early Friday after an explosion at a London train station, claiming the “loser terrorist” behind the attack was “in the sights of Scotland Yard.”
{mosads}U.K. officials have not yet released information on the suspect or whether they were on law enforcement’s radar.
Nick Timothy, a former chief of staff to Prime Minister Theresa May, said Trump’s speculation is “unhelpful from a leader of our ally.”
“True or not — and I’m sure he doesn’t know — this is so unhelpful from leader of our ally and intelligence partner,” Timothy tweeted.
A U.K. police spokesperson also characterized Trump’s early morning tweets as “unhelpful.”
“Pure speculation given we don’t know who is involved … Any speculation is unhelpful,” the spokesperson told CNN and BuzzFeed.
The explosion at a subway station in southwest London early Friday is being treated as a terrorist attack by local law enforcement.
Multiple injuries, including facial burns, were reported following an explosion in southwest London early Friday morning. The explosion happened about 8 a.m. local time at Parsons Green train station.
Trump fired off a series of Tweets using the attack to advocate for his executive order barring travel into the U.S. from Muslim-majority countries.
“Loser terrorists must be dealt with in a much tougher manner.The internet is their main recruitment tool which we must cut off & use better!” Trump continued in a subsequent tweet.
“The travel ban into the United States should be far larger, tougher and more specific-but stupidly, that would not be politically correct!”