White House Retweets Trump Tweet Restricted by Twitter for 'Glorifying Violence'

A tweet by President Donald Trump that Twitter had restricted because it broke its rules regarding "glorifying violence" during nationwide protests has been retweeted by the White House.

In response to the worsening violence in Minneapolis in the wake of the death of George Floyd at the hands of a white police officer, Trump tweeted on Friday: "These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won't let that happen."

"Just spoke to [Minnesota] Governor Tim Walz and told him that the Military is with him all the way," Trump wrote. "Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts."

Around an hour later, the social media platform added a warning to Trump's message, saying it violated the social media platform's "rules about glorifying violence."

Users were unable to like, reply to or share the tweet, but it was not removed, with Twitter saying it "determined that it may be in the public's interest for the Tweet to remain accessible."

The social media company explained that the historical context of Trump's last line, which appeared to refer to the words of the late Miami Police Chief Walter Headley in 1967, sparked violence then and which "could inspire similar actions today."

Seemingly circumventing Twitter's warning, Trump's restricted message was retweeted in full by the White House. Around 90 minutes later, Twitter also restricted the White House retweet on Friday at 9:50 a.m ET.

A Twitter spokesperson told Newsweek in a statement "we have placed a public interest notice on this identical tweet from the White House."

"We've taken action in the interest of preventing others from being inspired to commit violent acts, but have kept the tweet on Twitter because it is important that the public still be able to see the tweet given its relevance to ongoing matters of public importance," the Twitter spokesperson said.

The White House's message had been shared along with an earlier Trump tweet accusing Minneapolis of a "total lack of leadership" and calling on the mayor Jacob Frey to "get his act together...or I will send in the National Guard & get the job done right....."

Carl Miller, who is the research director of the Centre for the Analysis of Social Media at the Demos think tank in London, said the president's spat with Twitter looks likely to worsen.

"My impression is that it's the beginning of a further escalatory spiral. Twitter can't back down from it's new position, and Trump cannot back from the conflict because it's too politically useful and Twitter itself is too important to him," Miller told Newsweek.

A police station in Minneapolis was set alight during the third night of protests over the death of 46-year-old Floyd. The violence followed the emergence of cellphone footage of a white police officer kneeling on his neck, despite his insistence that he could not breathe.

Newsweek has contacted the White House for comment.

This story has been updated to include a statement to Newsweek from Twitter that it had also placed a public interest notice on the White House's sharing of Trump's tweet.