Donald Trump: “I guess this teaches you not to be nice or trusting.”

AFP

Donald Trump, one of America's most flamboyant billionaires, was lampooned on Twitter on Monday after being tricked into posting a picture of notorious British serial killers by a comedian.

Phil Bradbury used his @feckhead account to write a public message to Trump saying: "My parents who passed away always said you were big inspiration. Can you pls RT for their memory?"

Attached was a picture of Rose and Fred West, two of Britain's most prolific serial killers who tortured, raped and murdered an unknown number of women in the 1970s and 1980s.

Trumped retweeted the message but - bombarded with hilarious copycat requests lampooning his mistake - deleted the message and vented his anger online, threatening to sue.

"Some jerk fraudulently tweeted that his parents said I was a big inspiration to them + pls RT - out of kindness I retweeted. Maybe I'll sue," he updated his 2.7mn followers.

"I thought I was being nice to somebody re their parents. I guess this teaches you not to be nice or trusting. Sad!"

Trump, worth $4bn according to Forbes, made his fortune in real estate and is famous for unleashing a series of tirades on Twitter, many of them scathing attacks on the Obama administration.

His @realDonaldTrump account was inundated with mocking messages, one of them a picture of Adolf Hitler with the caption: "my gandad loved you. He's dead now (we think) RT?".

Another showed a bird stirring pasta with his beak. "Hello @realDonaldTrump, my son has a disfiguring condition that leaves him like this. Can you RT to raise awareness?"

Fred West, who was charged with 12 murders, committed suicide in prison in 1995 aged 53. His wife Rose, now 57, was convicted of 10 murders in 1995 and is serving life in prison.

She is the only woman serving a whole-life term in England.

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