Mr Trump’s speech comes during a hard time for his presidential campaign. How will it work?
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Trump’s call to work with Muslim allies comes against a backdrop of fierce criticism and condemnation of the Republican candidate from Muslims in the U.S. and overseas since December, when he proposed “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States”. “We cannot always choose our friends, but we can never fail to recognize our enemies”, Trump said. “We will partner with King Abdullah of Jordan and the president of Egypt, President Sisi, and all others who recognise this ideology of death that must be extinguished”, Trump said.
Trump would require everyone entering America to believe in religious freedom, gender quality, and gay rights which would be verified with questionnaires, social media, and interviews with friends.
Is this a revision of his Muslim ban?
The suggestion comes months after Trump first suggested a blanket ban on all Muslims entering the U.S. until leaders could solve terrorism related problems.
The proposal drew condemnation from both Democrats and Republicans, including from his running mate Indiana Governor Mike Pence.
Though the latest iteration would issue a ban on certain countries, some immigration experts say it still unfairly targets Muslims.
The Hillary campaign responded by stating that any policy submitting immigrants to ideological tests was a “ploy”.
The Republican nominee has made stricter immigration measures a central part of his proposals for defeating the Islamic State group, a battle he said on Monday is akin to the Cold War struggle against communism. The time is long overdue to develop a new screening test for the threats we face today. “I have often said that General MacArthur and General Patton would be in a state of shock if they were alive today to see the way President Obama and Hillary Clinton try to recklessly announce their every move before it happens – like they did in Iraq – so that the enemy can prepare and adapt”, Trump stated. What countries would be affected?
“A Trump Administration will establish a clear principle that will govern all decisions pertaining to immigration”.
According to the State Department’s annual assessment on global terrorism, 12 countries provide “terrorist safe havens”.
“All actions should be oriented around this goal and any country which shares this goal will be our ally”, Trump said.
Trump said he believed the United States could find “common ground with Russia” in the fight against the IS group-a claim bound to do little to silence critics who accuse him of being soft on Russian President Vladimir Putin.
What would be different under Trump’s plan?
The reality is that Trump’s focus on immigrants is to misconceive of the terrorist problem that exists in the United States. Following a massacre at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, in June, Trump introduced a new standard, vowing to “suspend immigration from areas of the world where there is a proven history of terrorism against the United States, Europe or our allies, until we fully understand how to end these threats”.
He also said he will work with other nations, including North Atlantic Treaty Organisation members, to defeat ISIS militarily and financially.
“Usually, more focused individualised inquiries tend to bear more fruit when it comes to protecting people’s security”, he added. North Atlantic Treaty Organisation invoked Article 5, its collective self-defense mechanism, for the first time in its history to offer support to the United States after the September 11, 2001, attacks.
In 2002, the United States created “Special Registration”, a programme requiring Arab and Muslim men to register with authorities with the aim of uncovering terror links.
The New York Times reported Monday on ledgers showing almost $13 million in payments designated for Manafort from the pro-Russian party of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. They’re clearly in the tank for Hillary Clinton because, the fact is, authorities here and overseas have confirmed ISIS is exploiting the refugee flow. “I said keep the oil, keep the oil, keep the oil”.
Mr Ahmed describes his plan as “an act of security theatre”. “Not for us. Not for us”, he said to applause.
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He also suggested ideological warfare to combat radical Islam, by contrasting American values with those promoted by terrorists and Middle Eastern countries – and he hit his Democratic rival and the Clinton foundation hard in the process.
