Trump blasts British ingratitude as record number demand ban

A record 450,000 people signed a petition on the British government website calling for him to be banned from the UK

LONDON: United States presidential hopeful Donald Trump on Thursday said Britain should be grateful for his investment in the country as a record number of people signed a petition to ban him from entry.

The Republican frontrunner said Britain was trying to disguise a "massive Muslim problem" as politicians queued up to denounce him over his latest outspoken remarks.

Trump to postpone Israel trip until ‘after becoming president of the US’

Trump has called for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States after the mass shooting in California by a Muslim couple said to have been radicalised.

A record 450,000 people have signed a petition on the British government website calling for him to be banned from the UK.

But the tycoon said British politicians were "pandering to political correctness" as the country ditched him as a business ambassador and a university revoked his honorary doctorate.

He should instead be thanked for investing in Scotland, he said.

"The United Kingdom is trying hard to disguise their massive Muslim problem. Everybody is wise to what is happening, very sad! Be honest," Trump said on Twitter.

"Many people in the UK agree with me!"

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has revoked his membership of the GlobalScot business network, saying he was no longer fit to act as a business ambassador for Scotland.



Meanwhile Robert Gordon University (RGU) in Aberdeen, on the northeast Scottish coast, revoked the doctorate of business administration he was awarded in 2010.

Trump, whose mother was a Scot, owns two golf courses in Scotland -- one outside Aberdeen and Trump Turnberry on the southwest coast.

Writing in The Press and Journal, a Scottish regional newspaper, the tycoon said that he should be thanked instead of being castigated.

"I have done so much for Scotland," the 69-year-old said.

"If they -- Nicola Sturgeon and RGU -- were going to do this, they should have informed me prior to my major investment in this £200 million ($300 million, 275 million euro) development, which will totally revitalise that vast region of Scotland.

"The UK politicians should be thanking me instead of pandering to political correctness."

Meanwhile a petition seeking to ban Trump from Britain -- started before his latest outburst -- has topped 450,000 signatures in the wake of his views on Muslim immigration.



It overtook the petitions "Accept more asylum seekers and increase support for refugee migrants in the UK" and "Stop all immigration and close the UK borders until ISIS (the Islamic State group) is defeated", which both have more than 440,000 signatories.

A "Don't ban Trump" counter-petition has received more than 17,500 signatures.

Petitions that top 100,000 are considered for debate in parliament.