DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Donald Trump’s call to keep Muslims from traveling to the United States is causing dismay among business leaders in the Middle East, a region where the billionaire presidential candidate has done business for years, viewed as well-suited for his brand of over-the-top luxury.

Emirati business magnate Khalaf al-Habtoor only months ago proclaimed his support for the Republican presidential candidate, but that’s all changed in the wake of Trump’s increasingly incendiary comments about Islam.

“If he comes to my office, I will not let him in. I reject him,” al-Habtoor told The Associated Press. “Maybe we can meet somewhere where I can debate with him in a very civilized way, not in the way he approaches people.”

Trump has for years looked to do business in the Middle East, particularly in the Gulf and the emirate of Dubai. Trump has lent his name to two high-profile Dubai golf course projects and an ongoing real estate development, and sought for years to expand his hotel chain into the region.

But some of his rhetoric about Islam on the campaign trail — including his call to monitor mosques and his proposal this week to temporarily bar Muslims from traveling to the U.S. — has led to increased wariness in the Arab world. Trump’s campaign did not respond to questions about his reputation and business dealings in the Middle East.

In a column published Aug. 9 in the state-owned The National newspaper of Abu Dhabi, al-Habtoor praised Trump for believing “in bringing back his country’s superpower status.”

But late last month, al-Habtoor wrote a follow-up column on Trump that began with: “I was wrong and I do not mind admitting it.”