President Donald Trump backflips after criticising global protests

President Donald Trump has backtracked after taking to Twitter overnight to needle the estimated two million people who marched in women-led mass protests against him a day earlier, including celebrities who took part.

The new president originally voiced his displeasure with the protests, and took aim at celebrities who took part, on his personal Twitter account. 

Mr Trump accused protesters of not voting in the November election.

But just two hours later the president posted a second, more formally worded, tweet in which he stressed that he respected the right to demonstrate, saying protests are "a hallmark of our democracy".

There was no official crowd count for the largest march, in Washington, but organizers told AFP they were confident it drew one million people, protesting any rollback of the rights of women, immigrants and minorities under Mr Trump's presidency.

At least a million people marched in other US cities, according to a tally of official counts for 15 major demonstrations compiled by CNN.

That figure did not include the many smaller sister marches held across the country and worldwide, which organizers numbered at over 600.

The scale of the mass protests highlights the depth of resistance to the former reality TV star, two days after he was sworn in as president with an approval rating of just 37 percent.

Pop diva Madonna made an unannounced appearance at the march in Washington, joining hundreds of thousands of protesters who rallied for women's rights in defiance of Trump.

Other celebrities at the massive demonstration included actresses Scarlett Johansson, Ashley Judd and America Ferrera, filmmaker Michael Moore and the feminist icon Gloria Steinem.

READ MORE: Madonna hails 'revolution of love' at Washington Women's March

IN PICTURES: Hundreds of thousands of people converge for Women’s Marches across the globe