His new policy – what he calls “extreme vetting” – would force immigrants to take an ideology test to see if they are worthy of being in America.
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Trump sharply criticized the foreign policy of President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton when she was secretary of state, decrying it as “nation-building” and claiming it led ISIS to flourish around the world.
With Donald Trump calling for “extreme vetting” and pitching a new “ideological test” for immigrants, the big-mouthed billionaire is being called out to take the USA naturalization test first.
Although he subsequently labeled the remark as sarcasm, Trump then said that Obama and Clinton had created the “vacuum” that allowed the Islamic State to form, an apparent reference to the 2011 US military withdrawal from Iraq. “The time is overdue” for a similar approach for the war on terrorism, he added. In a foreign policy speech Monday in Youngstown, Ohio, Trump also called for an end to the foreign policy of “nation building”, citing the Iraq war as an example of how the policy went wrong.
“In addition to screening out all members or sympathisers of terrorist groups, we must also screen out any who have hostile attitudes towards our country or its principles – or who believe that Sharia law should supplant American law”. ISIS, ISIL and Daesh are alternate terms for the Islamic State.
A US -led coalition began airstrikes soon after the victories by the extremist group and the war, which costs USA taxpayers about $11.6 million each day, is ongoing.
In November, Clinton outlined her own plan for combating the Islamic State group and terrorism by winning the war in Iraq and Syria, disrupting worldwide networks and strengthening homeland security.
Ahead of Trump’s address, Clinton and Vice President Joe Biden vigorously challenged the Republican nominee’s preparedness to be commander in chief. “I have never received a single “off-the-books cash payment” as falsely “reported” by The New York Times, nor have I ever done work for the governments of Ukraine or Russian Federation”, he said. “I said keep the oil, keep the oil, keep the oil. Don’t let somebody else get it”.
“Military, cyber and financial warfare will all be essential in dismantling Islamic terrorism”, Trump said. The oil money could have been used, in his view, to fund the care of wounded soldiers and their families.
“What was the goal of this whole thing?”
As Trump wrapped up his speech, he told supporters, volunteers, and others in the crowd, “As President, I will be your single greatest champion”.
“All of this death and destruction for nothing”, he said.
Trump appeared to stick mostly to his prepared remarks Monday while renewing his allegations that Obama, abetted by Clinton, by design or negligence presided over the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
Trump’s actual opponent in the presidential race, Clinton, is more comfortable with such terminology.
Clinton mocked Trump’s insistence that the Republican candidate knows more about Islamic State and conditions on the ground in Iraq than American generals.
A Trump Administration, he said, will also work very closely with North Atlantic Treaty Organisation on this new mission.
“All actions should be oriented around this goal and any country which shares this goal will be our ally”, Trump said. “We can never choose our friends, but we can never fail to recognize our enemies”. Immigration officers would be able to immediately deport people visiting the country who “preach hate” and those who immigrate to the United States would be expected to assimilate, he said.
Trump also wants to create a “Commission on Radical Islam” to help law enforcement and immigration officials develop “protocols” to screen for risky radicals.
While Trump has been harshly critical of Obama’s handling of the threat posed by the Islamic State, his own policies for defeating the group remain vague.
During the primary campaign, Trump said he would “bomb the hell” out of the Islamic State, and “I would bomb the s*** out of them”.
“Finally, we will pursue aggressive criminal or immigration charges against anyone who lends material support to terrorism”.
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On the home front he also proposed setting up a “commission on radical Islam” which would include “reformist voices in the Muslim community” to root out jihadist networks and stop radicalization of young Americans. She also took a swipe at her GOP rival, saying, “We need serious leadership”.
