‘Unpresidented’ Trump tweet on China sets off deluge of mockery

Agence France-Presse
President-elect Donald Trump, seen Friday on his USA Thank You Tour in Florida

US President-elect Donald Trump is getting plenty of attention — but not the kind he was looking for — after a tweet Saturday calling out China for its seizure of an unmanned US naval probe.

"China steals United States Navy research drone in international waters — rips it out of water and takes it to China in unpresidented [sic] act," the real estate magnate wrote on his favorite platform.

Update: China says it's giving the US its ocean drone back, so stop 'hyping' the incident

"Unpresidented" quickly became a top trending topic on Twitter in the United States, as online wags savaged the incoming president for the unfortunate misspelling.

"Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling tweeted:

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"Dear world, most Americans really wish we could be #unpresidented," another Twitter user wrote.

Trump deleted the tweet after about an hour, replacing it with one correctly using the word "unprecedented."

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While many mocked the deeply divisive political novice, famous for his verbal tics and gaffes, supporters jumped to his defense and said critics were piling on about a typo while ignoring the bigger problem.

Trump was referring to China's seizure on Thursday of an unmanned US naval probe in international waters of the South China Sea, a serious provocation as tensions rise between the two superpowers.

Trump has repeatedly infuriated Beijing in recent weeks, questioning longstanding US policy on Taiwan, calling Beijing a currency manipulator and threatening Chinese imports with punitive tariffs.

The Pentagon on Friday called on Beijing to "immediately" return the probe that it had "unlawfully seized."

Read more: No, Mr. Trump, China did not build a 'massive fortress' in the sea

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