Donald Trump ditched by Dubai real estate partner after Muslim comments

Two days after claiming Donald Trump’s anti-Muslim comments would have no impact on their business partnership, a major Dubai developer is removing the GOP front-runner’s photos from advertising billboards in the wealthy emirate.

A Dubai real estate firm building a $US6 billion ($8 billion) golf complex with Donald Trump has stripped the property of his name and image amid a backlash over his proposal to ban all Muslims from entering the United States.

“As such, we would not comment further on Donald Trump’s personal or political agenda, nor comment on the internal American political debate scene”, it added.

Trump’s ties with the wealthy Muslim governments and corporations that helped build his fortune are strained, as the mogul’s presidential campaign becomes more focused on appealing to US voters’ anti-Islam sentiments.

Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, secretary-general of the United Malays National Organisation, the biggest political party in Malaysia where Muslims make up 60 percent of the population, expressed concern that Trump would use issues of faith to gain political mileage.

Real estate isn’t the only branding problem for Trump in Dubai.

The mayor of St Petersburg in Florida, Rick Kriseman, said he was banning Trump from the city “until we fully understand the risky threat posed by all Trumps”.

Dubai’s Landmark Group on Wednesday suspended sales of Trump-branded home-decor products in its Lifestyle stores, the Gulf News daily reported. “I said we are fed up with the politicians, they have destroyed the Middle East…”

The poll indicates that Trump’s rhetoric, before he proposed the sweeping prohibition on Muslims, might appeal to fears about immigration from the Middle East shared by many Americans.

At a press conference in Dubai last year, Trump said the golf course and housing project would be completed in 2017 and that he would be responsible for managing the development for the next 25 years.

Damac Properties declined to comment. In addition, Al Habtoor Group owner Khalaf al-Habtoor said that he has also withdrawn his support for the Republican presidential candidate because of his remarks against Muslims.

Just how far Mr Trump’s comments will reverberate among Muslims in the Middle East and beyond is not yet clear.

Complaints, often from conservative quarters, that the United States is facing a war on Christmas are heard just about every year, as people lament what they describe as efforts to diminish the religious aspects of the holiday. Trump proposed banning Muslims from entering the U.S. following a mass shooting in California that officials say was an act of terrorism by a radicalised Muslim couple.