Donald Trump: More UK Muslims join IS than UK army

Protestors rally outside the Plaza Hotel on December 11, 2015 in New York. Picture: AFP/Getty Images

The controversial tycoon made the assertion just hours after being axed as a business ambassador for the Scottish Government and stripped of an honorary degree by Robert Gordon University (RGU) in Aberdeen over earlier remarks he had made about Muslims.

Trump tweeted his statement about the army in response to a petition demanding he be banned from the UK for his support of a “total and complete shutdown” of US borders to Muslims.

His latest tweet linked to an article in National Review headlined Dispelling The ‘Few Extremists’ Myth – The Muslim World Is Overcome With Hate, which cited a news report from 2014 on numbers of British Muslims travelling to Syria and Iraq to wage jihad.

Last night, the army declined to comment on Trump’s Tweet, but it is understood that it completely disputes his claim.

Meanwhile, a protest against Mr Trump’s comments was held outside East London Mosque in Tower Hamlets, with a handful of protesters chanting “Trump is scum”.

Around 50 people gathered outside the mosque, including a representative from Scotland Yard, mayor of Tower Hamlets John Biggs and religious leaders including the head of the local synagogue.

Spokesman Salman Farsi said: “Clearly some of the comments he has made are deeply, deeply wrong.”

Former first minister Alex Salmond has echoed calls from Tasmina Ahmed Sheik, the SNP MP for Ochil and South Perthshire, after she said “I don’t want to see Donald Trump in Scotland or the United Kingdom.

“No, I don’t want his money. Unless he withdraws his remarks.”

Mr Salmond, the SNP’s foreign affairs spokesman, in an interview to be broadcast today on Russia Today TV’s Going Underground, said: “Most presidents of the United States or UK prime ministers usually have about ten years in office before they go crazy.

“Donald Trump has made it as a candidate.”