Trump appears to tweet image of dead body

Donald Trump has posted an image of an apparently dead body on his Twitter feed amid a wild stream of messages in support of his policy on Iran.

The image showed a bloodied male figure draped over a barbed wire fence.

Mr Trump retweeted a number of posts denouncing Nancy Pelosi, the top Democrat in the US House. She has criticised his decision to unilaterally order the killing of Qassem Soleimani, Tehran’s top general – and also approved a successful vote on articles of impeachment against him.

The US president also promoted a tweet that claimed Ms Pelosi “supports a regime that kills its people”.

Users were reacting to a widely-shared clip of the House speaker on ABC’s This Week in which she discussed the anti-government protests in Iran.

The video, posted by the Republican National Committee, appeared to include only a small portion of the conversation.

Mr Trump further retweeted an image that showed Ms Pelosi alongside Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader, mocked up in a burkha and turban with an Iranian flag in the background.

On Sunday, Mr Trump urged Iran’s leaders not to used violence against protesters. “The World is watching. More importantly, the USA is watching,” he said.

He also pushed for Tehran to “let reporters roam free!” despite having spent years demonising the news media at home.

It comes a day after the president used Twitter to complain loudly about his impeachment, which is linked to his dealings with Ukraine, calling it a “totally partisan Hoax”.

He has called for the Senate to simply dismiss the case against him as the lower chamber prepares to send the charges there for a trial.

Mr Trump is accused of abusing his power by pushing Ukraine to investigate Democratic rival Joe Biden and subsequently obstructing congress.

Ms Pelosi warned on Sunday that senators would “pay a price” if they blocked new witnesses from giving evidence in a trial that Americans could perceive as a “cover-up”.