WASHINGTON: Donald Trump called civil rights activist Al Sharpton a "con man" who is "always looking for a score" Monday, fresh off a weekend in which the US president dominated headlines with attacks against a prominent black lawmaker.

On Saturday and Sunday, Trump took aim at Democratic Representative Elijah Cummings, a high-profile critic of his administration whose district covers much of the majority black city of Baltimore.

When Sharpton tweeted late Sunday that he had "arrived in DC from Atlanta, headed to Baltimore" it was apparently too much for Trump to resist.

The US president retweeted Sharpton's message early Monday, writing "Al is a con man, a troublemaker, always looking for a score. Just doing his thing" before adding that Sharpton, who is black, "Hates Whites & Cops!"

"So tired of listening to the same old Bull...Next, Reverend Al will show up to complain & protest. Nothing will get done for the people in need. Sad!" Trump wrote.

Trump's diatribes ignited a storm of criticism over the weekend and came less than two weeks after the House of Representatives condemned Trump for "racist" comments when he targeted four first-term Democratic congresswomen, known as the "Squad," who are from ethnic minorities.

"If the Democrats are going to defend the Radical Left "Squad" and King Elijah's Baltimore Fail, it will be a long road to 2020," Trump tweeted Monday.

Trump's remarks are seen as a calculated but risky appeal, both to the disgruntled white, blue-collar base that helped get him elected in 2016, and to other whites who haven't decided whom to support in next year's elections.

Sharpton on Monday responded: "Trump says I'm a troublemaker & con man. I do make trouble for bigots. If he really thought I was a con man he would want me in his cabinet."—AFP