UK congratulations to Biden contains hidden Trump message

Prime Minister Boris Johnson posted a statement with the words 'Trump', 'the future' and 'second term' faintly included

US President-elect Joe Biden spoke with Boris Johnson on Tuesday. REUTERS

The British government on Tuesday blamed a "technical error" for an embarrassing mistake in which Donald Trump's faded-out name appeared in a congratulatory online statement to Joe Biden.

Twitter users spotted the words "Trump", "the future" and "second term" faintly hidden in the graphic posted on Prime Minister Boris Johnson's official account to mark Mr Biden's election triumph.

"As you'd expect, two statements were prepared in advance for the outcome of this closely contested election," a Downing Street spokesman said.

"A technical error meant that parts of the alternative message were embedded in the background of the graphic."

Mr Johnson also spoke to Mr Biden about Brexit in a 25-minute call on Tuesday.

"I just spoke to @JoeBiden to congratulate him on his election," he said.

"I look forward to strengthening the partnership between our countries and to working with him on our shared priorities, from tackling climate change, to promoting democracy and building back better from the pandemic,” Mr Johnson said.

He famously prepared two newspaper articles arguing for and against Britain's departure from the EU before leading the Brexit campaign in 2016.

Despite the error, Mr Johnson on Tuesday became the first European leader to talk to Mr Biden after his victory.