Trump posts first ever tweet naming Stormy Daniels, calls her 'horseface' and misspells her name

Donald Trump has mentioned Stormy Daniels by name in a tweet for the first time ever, calling the adult actor “horseface” in an angry, misspelled post.

The president had yet to refer to Ms Daniels on social media, having been accused of paying hush money on the eve of the 2016 election not to disclose details of an alleged affair between the pair.

After having apparently watched a report on Fox News, he wrote: “Federal Judge throws out Stormy Danials [sic] lawsuit versus Trump. Trump is entitled to full legal fees.” @FoxNews Great, now I can go after Horseface and her 3rd rate lawyer in the Great State of Texas. She will confirm the letter she signed! She knows nothing about me, a total con!”

Later on Tuesday, Ms Daniels responded with a tweet of her own - in which she poked fun at Mr Trump's genitals and said he had shown his disdain for women.

"Ladies and gentlemen, may I present your president. In addition to his ... umm ... shortcomings, he has demonstrated his incompetence, hatred of women and lack of self control on Twitter AGAIN! And perhaps a penchant for bestiality. Game on, Tiny," she said.

Mr Trump's remarks – strikingly offensive even by the standard of the president’s usual language – came a day after a federal judge dismissed a defamation case filed by Ms Daniels and her lawyer Michael Avenatti against the president. Ms Daniels had sued Mr Trump after he said in a tweet that her story of a man threatening her not to come forward with details of the alleged affair was “a total con job”.

Mr Avenatti argued that Mr Trump’s tweet, posted on 18 April, “attacks the veracity of her account” of the incident and that the president’s statement was “false and defamatory, and that the tweet was defamation ... because it charged her with committing a serious crime”.

District judge James Otero said Mr Trump’s tweet was “rhetorical hyperbole” that is normally associated with political discourse in America and that the First Amendment protects this right.

“The court agrees with Mr Trump’s argument because the tweet in question constitutes ‘rhetorical hyperbole’ normally associated with politics and public discourse in the United States. The First Amendment protects this type of rhetorical statement,” Mr Otero wrote.

Mr Avenatti quickly responded to Mr Trump’s tweet, escalating an already nasty feud between the president and himself, calling Mr Trump a ”disgusting misogynist and an embarrassment to the United States”.

Ms Daniels, who says her affair with the man who would become president began in 2006, has also sued over a $130,000 hush money allegedly made by Mr Trump’s lawyer, Michael Cohen. Mr Otero is hearing both cases.

In August, Mr Cohen pleaded guilty to eight criminal counts, including tax fraud, making false statements to a bank and two campaign finance violations, stemming from payments he made to keep two women who alleged previous affairs with Mr Trump quiet during the 2016 campaign.

Earlier this year, Ms Daniels published a book, Full Disclosure, in which she mocked the shape of Mr Trump’s penis, claimed he never wanted to be president and that he offered her a chance to appear on The Apprentice and rig the outcome to ensure she won.

“He was going to have me cheat and it was 100 per cent his idea,” she said.

Charles Harder, Mr Trump’s lawyer, said the amount of the award for Mr Trump’s attorneys’ fees would be determined later