US President Donald Trump angrily lashed out Tuesday at questions about his response to the violent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville that ended in bloodshed, saying there was "blame on both sides."

"There are two sides to a story," Trump told reporters at Trump Tower in New York, where he was presenting infrastructure measures. 

When asked why he waited until Monday to explicitly condemn hate groups present in Charlottesville, Trump said he wanted to be careful not to make a "quick statement" without all the facts.

He called the suspected Nazi sympathizer who plowed his car into a crowd of anti-racism protesters, leaving one woman dead, a "disgrace to himself, his family and this country."

The president also defended his controversial far-right chief strategist Steve Bannon, saying: "I like Mr Bannon. He's a friend of mine... He is a good man. He is not a racist."

source: AFP