Mystery Donald Trump 'covfefe' tweet sparks social media ridicule

Washington: Social media is trying to make sense of Donald Trump after a nonsensical late-night tweet set off a storm of jokes about the US President.

The Twitter post, sent shortly before midnight in the US, reads "Despite the negative press covfefe", in an apparent reference to the press coverage that Trump has often derided as "fake news".

The post was available for more than three hours on his Twitter feed before it was taken down.

Minutes after the post was removed, Trump sent out a new tweet making direct reference to the likely gaffe.

The original tweet before it was deleted.Credit: Twitter/@realdonaldtrump

Using the hashtag #covfefe, Twitter users speculated over the reasons behind the original tweet. Was the President tired? Drunk? Had he perhaps just given away a secret nuclear code?

Taking aim at Trump's controversial relations with Russia, one woman on Twitter quipped that she had translated #covfefe into Russian, attaching a doctored image that showed the gibberish word to be a translation of "I resign".

Before long, the word had its own Urban Dictionary definition: "When you want to say 'coverage' but your hands are too small to hit all the letters on your keyboard."

Social media users were also planning to sell T-shirts with the theme, although none had materialised at time of publication.

Others speculated White House staff were too scared to knock on Trump's door to work out why he stopped mid-tweet.

When asked about the tweet, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters : "I think the President and a small group of people know exactly what he meant."

The Democratic Party's candidate for the last election Hillary Clinton said "it was a hidden message to the Russians".

DPA, AP