Trump blames 'sad' blunder at Oscars on political focus

US President Donald Trump says the Academy Awards ceremony "focused so hard on politics that they didn't get the act together at the end".

He said it was "sad" the awards ceremony botched the crowning of Moonlight as the Oscar-winning best picture after initially giving the top prize to La La Land.

Trump made the comments in an interview with Breitbart News, noting that for the Oscars "to end that way was sad".

The president was attending a Governors Ball at the White House during most of Sunday's awards ceremony.

The annual Oscars ceremony had a political edge, with many winners, presenters and host Jimmy Kimmel taking digs at Trump.

Trump said the Oscars ceremony "didn't feel like a very glamorous evening", adding: "there was something very special missing."

In the final award of the evening, Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway presented best picture to La La Land.

Minutes later, though, the producers of the movie were informed on stage they did not win.

Jordan Horowitz then announced Moonlight had won the honour, holding up a card from an envelope showing that was the case.

It turned out Beatty was given the wrong envelope as he took the stage.

It was a duplicate of the previous category, best actress, showing Emma Stone of La La Land had won.

The debacle — already being dubbed the worst in the Academy Awards’ history — has forced accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers to apologise after overseeing the ballot-counting process for 83 years.

It was unclear if Trump actually watched the ceremony.

Last week, White House spokesman Sean Spicer suggested he and the first lady would be too busy hosting the nation's governors at a White House dinner.