Today, back on his “Look, I can read stiltedly from a teleprompter” pivot, Donald Trump laid out one of the most extreme foreign policy proposals since the Cold War.
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Numerous things Trump attacked – including the Iraq invasion, the Libya intervention and the Iraq withdrawal under Obama – are developments he has expressed support for in past years.
Donald Trump called for an ideological screening test for immigrants coming to the U.S.as he outlined his plans to combat terrorist threats on Monday.
The Republican nominee did not disavow his prior proposal to temporarily ban all Muslims from the United States “until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on”.
Trump went on to claim that decisions made by Obama and Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton led to the rise of the ISIS, pointing out that the group did not exist in 2009 when Obama took office.
Trump said those with “hostile attitudes” toward the country or its principals should not be allowed in and pushed his proposal to temporarily suspend immigration from the “most risky and volatile regions of the world that have a history of exporting terrorism”.
“We should only admit into this country those who share our values and respect our people”, Trump said.
“Mr. Trump’s speech will explain that while we can’t choose our friends, we must always recognize our enemies”, Trump senior policy adviser Stephen Miller said Sunday.
Biden called Trump’s views “dangerous” and “un-American”.
“The threat to their life has gone up a couple clicks”, Biden said.
Earlier in the speech, Trump cited terrorist attacks on U.S. soil carried out by immigrants or children of immigrants as the reasoning behind the stricter immigration policies. “In the Cold War we had a ideological screening tests, the time is overdue to develop a new screening test”.
It is unclear how USA officials would assess the veracity of responses to the questionnaires or how much manpower it would require to complete such arduous vetting.
“It is now time for a new approach”, said the GOP nominee, claiming the USA policy of nation building has been an “absolute failure”. He’s struggled to stay on message and consistently has overshadowed his policy rollouts, including an economic speech last week, with provocative statements, including his comments declaring that Obama was the “founder” of ISIL.
Trump spoke in Youngstown, Ohio, where he focused his speech on national security.
He advocated for an “ideological screening test” that would screen out members and sympathizers of terrorist groups as well as those who do not believe in our Constitution or support bigotry or hatred.
He also took aim at President Barack Obama, labelling him as “an incompetent president”. The White House and Clinton have repeatedly condemned this language saying that it plays into the recruiting efforts of terrorists.
He did say that implementing the policy overhaul would require a temporary halt in immigration from “the most risky and volatile regions of the world that have a history of exporting terrorism”.
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That proposal raised numerous questions that the campaign never clarified, including whether it would apply to citizens of countries like France, Israel, or Ireland, which have suffered recent and past attacks. He said he would rely on the U.S. Department of State and U.S. Department of Homeland Security to come up with a list of regions where our screening process is insufficient.
