It Was Sad, Focussed Too Much on Politics: Trump on Oscar Mix-Up

President Donald Trump said the chaos that erupted at the end of the Oscars was due to Hollywood obsessing about him rather than concentrating on running a smooth show.

Trump commented on the Oscars in an Oval Office interview with conservative website Breitbart News Network. Breitbart was previously managed by Steve Bannon, Trump's current chief White House strategist.

The US president said the Oscars organisers had taken their eyes off the ball because they "were focused so hard on politics".

Breitbart further added:

Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr, also commented on the Oscars mix-up and called it an “interesting mistake” in a tweet.

The president’s comments came after Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty mistakenly presented the best picture statuette at the climax of the ceremony to La La Land, when Moonlight was the real winner.

The mix-up, which made for a chaotic end to ABC's telecast of the show, has been described as one of the most embarrassing moments in Oscars’ history.

Trump had been the target of light-hearted jokes and serious derision throughout the night as Oscar-winners railed against his immigration policies.

Host Jimmy Kimmel trolled the Republican via Twitter during the live broadcast. Kimmel also mocked the commander-in-chief's criticism of screen icon Meryl Streep.

US State Dept Tweets, Deletes Congratulatory Message to Iranian Director

The US State Department on Monday issued and then deleted a congratulatory message for an Oscar win by a prominent Iranian director who criticised President Donald Trump's travel ban as "inhumane".

The State Department's official Persian-language Twitter account, @USAdarFarsi, tweeted congratulations to the Iranian people and Asghar Farhadi, director of The Salesman, after the movie won an Oscar for best foreign-language film on Sunday, according to screenshots of the message circulated on Twitter.

Farhadi boycotted the Oscars ceremony to protest Trump's January executive order that temporarily banned entry to the United States by Iranians and citizens of six other Muslim-majority countries, and issued a statement criticising the order. The ban was blocked by federal courts, although the administration is working on a new order.

Farhadi chose two Iranian-Americans – a female engineer and a former NASA scientist – to represent him at the ceremony. Anousheh Ansari, an engineer who was the first female space tourist, read a statement on Farhadi's behalf calling the travel ban "inhumane".

(With inputs from media agencies.)