The tragedy is that this is no longer shocking… its just what our nation has become…

The inaccuracy was one of a series of extraordinary claims made by the president during a typically bellicose rally in the city of Green Bay.

He also referred to former FBI officials he has purged from government as “scum”, referred to the media as “sick people”, and mimicked the accent of King Salman of Saudi Arabia.

He implied that he had continued to deal with the Middle East country after its leaders are said to have ordered the execution of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi because they “have a lot of money”.

At one point he revelled in anti-Hillary Clinton chants of “lock her up”. At another, he said his proposed plan to send all undocumented immigrants to just a handful of America’s sanctuary cities had been “my sick idea”.

He also dismissed rumours that, if voted in for a second term in 2020, he would try to change the constitution so he could run for a third time.