US Presidential nominees Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton addressed topics ranging from national security to veteran affairs in their first television forum here.
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The two candidates made back-to-back appearances at a forum on military issues in NY hosted by NBC News and the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, an advocacy group, as national security has moved to the forefront of the campaign. While the candidates never appeared on stage together, their back-to-back sessions served as a preview of sorts for their upcoming presidential debates.
Trump repeats false Iraq War claim: “I was totally against the war in Iraq”. During the forum, Clinton defended her decision to intervene in Libya’s civil war and vowed that the USA would not send ground troops to help defeat ISIS in Iraq and Syria.
“I do believe that Donald Trump is growing in his understanding of these issues and I think that he’s beginning to get more and more people around him that have a depth of understanding as to the complexities and I’m watching this evolve”, he said.
The Democratic presidential nominee, speaking back-to-back with her Republican opponent Donald Trump during a national security forum in New York City, also was forced to defend past comments expressing regret for having voted to invade Iraq in 2003 and her later support for USA military intervention in Libya.
Trump, in turn, criticised the Obama administration as pursuing “the dumbest foreign policy” he had ever seen. He both insisted he has a private blueprint for defeating the extremist group and that he would demand a plan from military leaders within 30 days of taking office.
Asked to square his request for military options with his harsh criticism of the current crop of generals, Trump said simply: “They’ll probably be different generals”.
As a businessman with no substantial national security experience, Trump was also vague about how he is preparing for the enormous array of complex issues that would land on his desk as commander in chief. “I will do everything in my power to make sure our men and women in the military are fully prepared for any challenge they may have to face on our behalf, but I will also be as careful as I can in making the most significant decisions any president and commander and chief can make about sending our men and women into harms way”.
Trump also renewed his praise of Russian President Vladimir Putin for having “great control over his country”.
The appearances mark an intense, two-day focus on national security by Trump, who has offered tough rhetoric _ but few details _ on America’s challenges overseas.
Lauer wasn’t the only one asking questions; a live audience of service members and veterans also got a crack at Clinton and Trump. Trump’s repeated attacks on the Khan family were widely criticized and came amid a stretch of behavior so erratic, even by the standards of his unorthodox campaign, that top Republicans were said to be exploring alternatives should he leave the race.
A flood of Republican national security experts have instead chosen to back Clinton, helping bolster her case that Trump is broadly unacceptable.
His address earlier in the day also included plans to eliminate deep spending cuts known as the “sequester” that were enacted when Congress failed to reach a budget compromise in 2011. Republicans and Democrats voted for the automatic, across-the board cuts that affected both military and domestic programs.
Trump defends an old tweet on military sexual assault: “No, not to kick (women) out”.
The United States now spends more than $600 billion a year on the military, more than the next seven countries combined. The forum could serve as a warm-up to their highly anticipated first presidential debate, scheduled for September 26 in NY.
Currently, America has thousands of troops in Iraq and hundreds in Syria, but their mission is to train local forces and not engage in direct combat with IS.
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And a final bit of bad news for the bombastic New Yorker: averages of national polls, regardless of the group doing the compilation, show Clinton leading Trump. Pace reported from Washington.
