In the US, polls suggest 4 out of 10 Republicans support Trump’s proposal, though almost 6 in 10 Americans overall oppose it. A new national NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll found 57 percent of adults disagree with Trump’s proposal, versus 25 percent who agree.
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Trump’s visit to Israel, which he announced on Twitter on Tuesday, has proven highly controversial, and his proposed meeting with Netanyahu has been condemned by some Israeli lawmakers, mostly Israeli Arabs and members of leftist parties.
The poll released Thursday by Gallup, showed that 91 percent of U.S. voters were familiar with Trump, but only 32 percent of them had a favorable opinion about Trump, compared to 59 percent who had an unfavorable opinion.
As my colleague Joshua Keating pointed out earlier this week, Trump is a big Bibi fan. But I didn’t want to put him under pressure, No. 1. Netanyahu, unsurprisingly, isn’t prepared to do the same for Trump.
Trump has the GOP in turmoil over his call for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the USA following last week’s mass shooting by an Islamic militant couple that killed 14 people in San Bernardino, California.
Sir Peter Westmacott, who is nearing the end of his four-year tour as Britain’s ambassador to the USA, did not wait to be asked about Mr Trump’s latest remarks before going on the offensive in a meeting with journalists, the New York Times reported.
“I weighed in on the comment made in the presidential campaign because I think that needed to be commented on, but I’m not going to spend every day here talking about the go-betweens of what’s happening in the presidential race”, Ryan told reporters at his weekly press conference on Capitol Hill.
Despite that, Mr Trump, who is the frontrunner for the Republican nomination according to the polls, said Britain was in denial about its “massive Muslim problem”.
“In keeping with our longstanding tradition of hosting leading American presidential candidates, Israel couldn’t refuse to see him without exposing itself to undue accusations of interference in USA elections”.
Mr Trump said he had a lot of support in Israel.
Play video “What Do You Want To Say To Trump?”
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Twenty-two per cent say Trump is telling it like it is and has the correct approach. “I said it back in 2009 and got beat up by the Left but understood by the commonsense Right, and I’ll say it again: if it saves innocent lives, ‘profile away!'” she wrote.
