An online petition requesting that Donald Trump be removed from office has got 6 billion signatures from around the world within 24 hours of its being set up.

The petition on change.org was started by Kenny Gonow, 27, after the latest episode in Trump’s presidency has left the world reeling.

Mr Gonow, an American citizen, decided if the people at the top weren’t going to do anything, he would.

He set up the petition as a means of expressing his dissatisfaction with Trump’s leadership skills, but was not expecting the viral response it received. Within minutes, the petition had gone viral, and was getting signed by billions of people around the world, from Canada to Cambodia.

“I can’t believe it,” Mr Gonow told the Rochdale Herald. “I didn’t realise how strongly people felt about him. I’m touched.”

Change.org spokesman Hugh Signem also spoke to the Herald. “It’s the biggest petition we’ve ever had,” he said.

“Normally we can expect a few thousand signatures on a petition, occasionally we might get into millions on something really major, but this is unprecedented. We’ve had to get more servers to deal with all these signatures.”

It is reported also that the entire population of North Korea have signed the petition en masse, after an order by Kim Jong Un, although this cannot be confirmed at present.

Mr Trump himself has refused to acknowledge the existence of the petition.

“This is fake news,” he announced. “No such petit – uh, pet – uh, thing, exists. Why should it? There’s no need for it. Why would anyone want to get rid of me? I’m the most loved President. No other President has ever been loved as much as me. Fake news.”

Why indeed? If he wants an answer to that, maybe he should look at the comments people put in the “I’m signing because” box. The signatories haven’t held back.

What effect the petition will have remains to be seen. In a best case scenario, maybe he’ll finally be removed from office. In a worst case scenario, he might just push the nuclear button, and send missiles zooming at every nation on the planet in retaliation.

In either event, it would be best to be braced for loud noises from the White House.