Washington | US President Donald Trump on Monday morning retweeted a video of a white man and woman brandishing a semi-automatic rifle and a handgun at peaceful black protesters in St Louis over the weekend, amplifying a surreal scene that embodied the racial divisions roiling the country.

Trump's promotion of the St Louis confrontation was the second time in two days that the president used his social media platforms — which he often credits with allowing him to circumvent mainstream news outlets — to exacerbate racial divisions as Americans have been protesting police brutality and demanding social justice reforms in the wake of the killing of George Floyd.