In a speech delivered in the vital swing state of Ohio, Trump said that in implementing his call for a temporary ban on Muslims immigrating to the country, he would institute “extreme vetting” and develop a new screening test to try to catch people who intend to do harm to the US.
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Although Trump’s remarks were stronger in tone than than those now heard from most American political leaders, he did not reveal many specific details of his plan to suggest how it would differ from the current administration’s.
Following a week during which the GOP candidate described President Barack Obama as the “founder” and Hillary Clinton as the “co-founder” of ISIS, Trump insisted that “the rise of ISIS is the direct result of policy decisions made by President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton”. Trump has proposed a closer relationship with Russian Federation in order to fight the Islamic State in Syria.
“Mr. Trump’s speech will explain that while we can’t choose our friends, we must always recognize our enemies”, senior policy adviser Stephen Miller said. The first half of the latter quote was mocked online by social media users nearly immediately.
In his address on combating terrorism and defeating ISIS, Trump will also “describe the need to temporarily suspend visa issuances to geographic regions with a history of exporting terrorism and where adequate checks and background vetting can not occur”, Miller added.
Now, the Trump campaign is proposing “a new screening test to admit only those who support US laws and values”, as well as the potential to stop issuing visas to certain immigrants. He said destroying the terrorist group would be the centerpiece of his foreign policy and he would partner with any countries that share that goal – specifically singling out Russian Federation as a nation the United States could have a better relationship with.
Trump’s suggested immigration policy proposal also includes a test to elicit Muslim candidates’ ideological positions before being admitted into the USA, according to the same source.
At the same time, the campaign said, “The Trump Administration will be a friend to all moderate Muslim reformers in the Middle East and will amplify their voices in the fight against Radical Islam”.
‘In addition to screening out all members or sympathizers 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.
“We will be tough, and we will be even extreme”, said Trump at a campaign rally in Youngstown, Ohio, casting the fight against “Radical Islamic Terrorism” as this generation’s Cold War.
The government would use questionnaires, social media, interviews with friends and family or other means to check if applicants support U.S. values, according to the aides. “Only those who we expect to flourish in our country and to embrace a tolerant American society should be issued visas”, Trump said amidst applause. Trump did not clarify how USA officials would assess the veracity of responses to the questionnaires or how much staffing it would require to complete such vetting.
Nor does the campaign say whether additional screenings would apply to the millions of tourists who spend billions of dollars visiting the United States each year.
Trump said he would end nation-building and pursue relationships with allies to help defeat ISIS, including looking to North Atlantic Treaty Organisation for help, reversing an earlier position.
Trump said he would wage a multi-front “military, cyber and financial” war to defeat Islamic State.
Trump condemned the 2003 United States invasion of Iraq and what he called Obama’s “reckless” withdrawal, which gave “new life” to terrorists there.
Among other things, these new screening procedures would be created to weed out terrorist sympathizers as well as those who hold intolerant or extremist views or otherwise do not share American values. “We will work side by side with our friends in the Middle East, including our greatest ally in the region, Israel”, Trump said, before also name-checking Jordan and Egypt, and in something of a surprise, he also outlined a role for North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, an organization he had previously talked of dismantling. If Trump had been president, Biden says he would have urged his late son, Beau, not to serve in the military because Trump would not be a trustworthy leader. The main target is the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, the extremist group active in parts of Iraq, Syria, and Libya.
“What one president thinks is important for American values, another president may deem not important”, he said.
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He called for “extreme vetting” of foreigners who want to come the United States, spelling out in more detail policies barring certain people from entry that he has articulated throughout the campaign.
