President Donald Trump on Thursday backed away from his threat to send the suspect in the New York bike path attack to Guantanamo Bay, acknowledging in an early morning tweet that the military judicial process at the Cuban detention centre takes longer than the civilian federal court system.

But Trump called again for the man to be executed, which could complicate the case for prosecutors and give defence attorneys a chance to argue the president's tweets hurt their client's right to a fair trial.

Trump tweeted on Thursday morning that the case against Sayfullo Saipov, 29, "Should move fast. DEATH PENALTY!" He had tweeted on Wednesday night: "NYC terrorist was happy as he asked to hang Daesh flag in his hospital room. He killed 8 people, badly injured 12. SHOULD GET DEATH PENALTY!"

His comments broke with longstanding tradition against presidents publicly commenting on criminal cases.

Trump on Wednesday, in seemingly off-the-cuff responses to reporters, said he would consider sending Saipov to Guantanamo, a notion the White House later reinforced by saying it considered Saipov to be an "enemy combatant."

Trump also vowed to "get rid" of the green card lottery "as soon as possible," seizing on the New York to press his campaign-agenda of restricting immigration.

Source: Khaleej Times