Donald Trump on Tuesday laid out a United States blueprint for defeating global terrorism in partnership with North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and Middle East allies, demanding extreme restrictions on immigration and likening the fight to the Cold War.
Advertisement
Trump did not identify the countries that would face the immigration and visa scrutiny beyond broadly invoking the middle-east region, although he cited honor killings in Pakistan and said speaking out against the awful practice would be a litmus test to determine moderate Muslims, who he said his administration would befriend. “Extreme vetting” would surely increase the chances of identifying and stopping a potential terrorist before they ever made it to America.
Trump said the policy would first require a temporary halt in immigration from risky regions of the world. To quote him, “Those who do not believe in our Constitution or who support bigotry and hatred will not be admitted for immigration into our country”.
The GOP nominee also vowed to end the era of nation-building.
The U.S. already screens everyone who enters the country, said Doris Meissner, who heads the Migration Policy Institute’s U.S. immigration policy program. “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”.
For a week, Trump has been laying the groundwork for contrasting his own approach to countering the Islamic State group with Democrats, calling US President Barack Obama the group’s “founder” and Clinton the “cofounder”.
Apparently, in a Trump administration, the legal immigrant parents of adults who commit illegal acts would be on the hook for the actions of their grown children. He has not mentioned the name of any particular country and said if he becomes president, he will give a list of applicable countries to the Department of Homeland Security and the State Department.
Most of Donald Trump’s big speeches tend to raise questions about his competence, but yesterday’s address on foreign policy and national security was stranger than most. Would Trump and his more radical supporters struggle to pass the same test? During Trump’s campaign, he’s said that many Mexicans are rapists and feuded with the Muslim American parents of an Army captain killed in Iraq.
“When I say ‘do our jobs, ‘ what I mean is we are going to have to continue to be engaged”, Obama said.
“What I do want to emphasize is the need for a sense of urgency and finishing the job of getting her elected”, Obama said at a private residence.
In a blatant appeal to right-wing Christian evangelical voters, Trump characterized the terrorism waged by ISIS against the West as a war against Christendom.
Advertisement
He did offer this bit of foreign policy, though, regarding his good friend, Vladimir Putin: “I also believe that we could find common ground with Russian Federation in the fight against ISIS”, Trump said. Ironic considering that when it comes to foreign policy, Trump is far from being well-prepared, admitting that he plans to hire the best people in order to take care of this aspect. Then he said that Muslim politicians and athletes headed to the United States for sports competitions would also be exempt, though he did not specify what level of officials or athletes.
