Donald Trump is still surging in latest national poll

Mr Trump's surging popularity follows controversial comments on Muslims

Donald Trump surged ahead in a CBS-New York Times poll Thursday. (Richard Drew/Getty)

Donald Trump on Thursday towered over competitors as the top choice for the Republican Party presidential nomination, a new poll of primary voters shows.

Mr Trump saw a 13 percent growth in support since October with 35 per cent of those surveyed — his highest share yet, the poll, from television channel CBS and The New York Times, showed. Mr Trump’s leading competitor Ted Cruz trailed behind with 16 percent, CBS reported.

A survey of Iowa state Republicans by Monmouth University published Monday showed Cruz ahead by 5 per cent.

Mr Trump’s latest surge in popularity follows his suggestion Monday that the United States bar Muslims from entry. Trump’s incendiary comments on ethnic minorities and differently abled people have provoked criticism, but his significant fan base often lauds his apparent disdain for political correctness.

The suggested ban came in the wake of an attack by self-professed adherents of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (Isis) killed 14 people last week in San Bernardino, California.

Mr Trump called for a “complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on” in a campaign press release seen by The Independent.