White House anger over Samsung tweets of Obama selfie

The White House has criticised Samsung for promoting a selfie photo taken by Boston Red Sox player David Ortiz with President Barack Obama.

The picture was taken by Ortiz on his Samsung phone this week and was re-tweeted by Samsung to millions of the phone maker's 5.2 million followers.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said the president's image should not be used for commercial gain.

Samsung representatives have not so far commented on the issue.

Mr Carney said that White House lawyers were being consulted over the issue.

"Without getting into counsel's discussions, I can tell you that as a rule, the White House objects to attempts to use the president's likeness for commercial purposes, and we certainly object in this case," he said.

He declined to discuss how the White House had objected.

Ortiz gave the president a special Red Sox jersey with the president's name on it at the function on Tuesday and then persuaded him to pose for the smartphone "selfie".

"I gave him the jersey, and the photographers were going to take their pictures and I thought, really at the last second, maybe I should snap a shot with my phone while I have the chance," Ortiz told the Boston Globe.

"You don't get a chance to get a photo with the president every day."

He denied that Samsung paid him any more money for taking the photo.