PKR deputy president Azmin Ali today rebuked Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak for his failure to condemn United States President Donald Trump's "racist" executive order which temporarily bans immigration to the US from seven Muslim-majority countries.

Azmin said Najib was quick to congratulate Trump on his victory but kept a "wall of silence" over the executive order issued last Friday.

"Prime Minister Najib’s silence on the matter speaks volumes about his position, more so considering how publicly he has praised Trump’s accession to office and his pledge to work closely with the new administration.

"Questions are raised as to this apparently inexplicable wall of silence on the part of Putrajaya and whether it has anything to do with some ongoing international investigation by the Department of Justice (DOJ)," Azmin, who is also Selangor menteri besar, said in a statement.

The US DOJ has an ongoing investigation into alleged misappropriation of 1MDB funds and has filed lawsuits to seize more than US$1 billion of assets believed to have been purchased with funds siphoned from 1MDB. 1MBB has denied that its funds were stolen.

Trump and Najib are reportedly "golfing buddies", with Najib keeping a framed picture of him and the US president in his office.

Trump last Friday imposed a 90-day ban on citizens of Iraq, Iran, Somalia, Syria, Libya, Sudan and Yemen, to curb "radical Islamist terrorism" and suspended the country's refugee programme for 120 days.

The move also affected those who hold US green cards and other valid US visas, while Americans of Middle Eastern heritage are reportedly held up at US airports and forced to undergo vetting, which included surrendering their mobile phone passwords.

Thousands have gathered at major US airports to protest the move, which has seen citizens from the seven countries detained at immigration.

Acting US attorney-general Sally Yates defied the order and said the Justice Department would not defend the ban. She has since been fired for "defying the travel ban".

Violates human decency

"While Trump has claimed that the measure is taken to counter terrorism, it is clear that it is an act of blatant racism, in keeping with Trump’s campaign pledges to build walls of prejudice and animosity against minorities and immigrants around America," Azmin said.

He added: "This ban also violates basic principles of international conduct governing the treatment of refugees fleeing war and persecution, fundamental human decency and the elementary rules of humanitarian behaviour that should be observed by civilised nations.

"More alarmingly, this ban signals a new phase of state-sponsored Islamophobia, which, if unchecked, will be demonstrated in various ways, in both domestic and foreign policies that will collectively have a detrimental effect on the international front and global measures to counter terrorism and other forms of religious extremism."

Pakatan Harapan is holding a demonstration against the ban at the US Embassy in Kuala Lumpur on Friday.

Germany has expressed disagreement with Trump's order while Australia said it cannot comment on the domestic affairs of other countries.

Those who are both citizens of Australia and one of the seven nations on the ban list have not been barred from entering the US, Canberra said.

Washington said it would honour an agreement with Canberra to resettle refugees, mostly from Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan, who are detained in Australia.

Umno supreme council member Bung Moktar Radin has said it is inappropriate for Najib to comment on Trump's order.