Donald Trump has insulted another country which he claimed “nobody has ever heard of" fresh from his vice president attacking the UK military.

The US president has sparked plenty of conflict since his return to office, and it continued during his speech to Congress which is traditionally a moment for a call to unity.

But this was far from Trump’s plan and it came after his vice-president JD Vance struck a new nerve with allies by offering sceptical comments about a potential international security force for postwar Ukraine proposed by the UK.

Now Trump has taken a surprise swipe at Lesotho in Africa as he proudly spoke of his cuts in overseas aid, which is part of a general reduction in public spending.

"Eight million dollars to promote LGBTQI+ in the African nation of Lesotho," Trump said, struggling with the pronunciation. "Which nobody has ever heard of," Trump added, as many Republicans laughed and JD Vance along with Speaker Mike Johnson could be seen grinning behind him.

Lesotho has one of the highest rates of HIV in the world and has received support from the US in a programme set up by started by Trump’s Republican predecessor, former President George W. Bush. Under the newly created Department of Government Efficiency, run by Elon Musk, Trump has effectively shut down the US Agency for International Development.

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Earlier on Tuesday, Vance had said the minerals deal would be a more practical deterrent against Russian President Vladimir Putin than a peacekeeping force for postwar Ukraine that includes “some random country”.

In an interview he said the economic pact with Kyiv sought by Trump “is a way better security guarantee than 20,000 troops from some random country that hasn’t fought a war in 30 or 40 years”. Vance did not mention any particular country but it has been seen as a slight against the UK and France that discounted both countries’ partnership with the US military in conflict zones over the past 25 years.

And one grieving British mother who lost her son in Afghanistan branded Vance an “offensive clown” and said she was “beyond angry” with the American vice president.

Mum Chris Harrison, 69, whose hero son Cpl Darren Bonner, of 1st Battalion, The Royal Anglian Regiment, died in Afghanistan aged 31 in 2007, stormed: “I would have punched him in the face.

“I was already angry over the way he treated President Zelensky so shabbily in the infamous Oval meeting, not interjecting when a reporter demanded to know why he was not in a suit. Zelensky could have turned up with a sack on his back and still been a dignified hero - twice the man Vance is.

“But this latest comment by Vance disrespects the sacrifice of soldiers like my Darren and all of the other British heroes who gave their lives. I am so angry with him. He’s a disgrace.” Other families added to the storm, along with political figures and war veterans, even though Vance later tried to deny he was insulting the UK, claiming the suggestion he was referring to those two allies is "absurdly dishonest”. He added: "I don't even mention the UK or France in the clip, both of whom have fought bravely alongside the US over the last 20 years, and beyond.” The UK and France are the only countries to have pledged troops to a potential peacekeeping force.