U.S. President Donald Trump's declaration in an inauguration speech that Americans “split the atom” prompted vexed social media posts on Tuesday by New Zealanders, who said the achievement belonged to a pioneering scientist revered in his homeland.

After President Trump's claim, a mayor in New Zealand pointed out that work to split the atom was actually pioneered by physicist Ernest Rutherford.

New Zealanders are expressing frustration after U.S. President Donald Trump credited Americans with splitting the atom in his second inaugural address——an achievement widely attributed to Ernest Rutherford,