Trump responds to slain Muslim soldier's father: 'I've made a lot of sacrifices'

Responding to accusations by the father of a slain Muslim soldier that Donald Trump has "sacrificed nothing," the billionaire said on Saturday that he has made many sacrifices, such as employing thousands of people.

Khizr Khan - whose son died in Iraq - accused the Republican presidential nominee of vilifying American Muslims, in a steely rebuke that electrified the Democratic convention on Thursday.

"Go look at the graves of brave patriots who died defending the United States of America," Khan said, directly addressing Trump. "You will see all faiths, genders and ethnicities. You have sacrificed nothing and no one."

Trump brushed off Khan's words in an interview with ABC News, saying that he thinks he has made "a lot of sacrifices."

"I work very, very hard. I've created thousands and thousands of jobs, tens of thousands of jobs, built great structures. I've had tremendous success. I think I've done a lot."

He also suggested that Clinton's speechwriters penned Khan's address, which Khan has said he wrote with his wife.

"Who wrote that? Did Hillary's script writers write it?" Trump said.

"If you look at his wife, she was standing there. She had nothing to say," Trump said, adding that "maybe she wasn't allowed to have anything to say."

In a Friday evening interview on MSNBC, Ghazala Khan spoke about her final interaction with her son, on Mother's Day 2004, wishing him safety while he was serving in Iraq.

Clinton released a statement on Saturday defending the Khans as "the best of America".

"I was very moved to see Ghazala Khan stand bravely and with dignity in support of her son on Thursday night," Clinton said.

"This is a time to honor the sacrifice of Captain Khan and all the fallen. Captain Khan and his family represent the best of America, and we salute them."

Among some of Trump's more controversial policy positions has been his call to ban Muslims from entering the United States.