The crowd was smaller than Mr Trump has experienced elsewhere during his campaign, with organisers estimating that he attracted about 5000 people for his speech.

Mr Trump insisted that 600,000 had tried to assemble but had been prevented by police.

“I thought this would be like Dr. Martin Luther King, where the people would be lined up from here all the way to the Washington monument, right? Unfortunately, they don’t allow ’em to come in,” he said as he concluded his remarks.

He promised it would be easier next year.