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Donald Trump’s Terrorism Plan Mixes Cold War Concepts and Limits on Immigrants Donald Trump’s Terrorism Plan Mixes Cold War Concepts and Limits on Immigrants
(about 3 hours later)
Donald J. Trump on Monday will lay out what aides described as a broad framework for combating global Islamic terrorism, invoking the Cold War era to try new approaches to limiting the influx of immigrants into the country. YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — Donald J. Trump on Monday laid out his plan for combating global Islamic terrorism, invoking the Cold War era to try new approaches and accusing President Obama and Hillary Clinton of bungling the fight against terrorist threats.
In a speech scheduled for Youngstown, Ohio — a place where the driving concern for voters is the economy more than terrorism — Mr. Trump will call for significant changes in how the United States defines its allies, urge an end to “nation building” and move toward foreign policy “realism.” Mr. Trump also plans to call for working closely with countries where Islamic State terrorism has flourished, seeking to team up with these nations to eradicate it, said Stephen Miller, Mr. Trump’s policy adviser. Calling for significant changes in how the United States defines its allies, he urged an end to “nation building” and recommended overhauling how the U.S. screens people coming in to the country.
The proposed change in alliances would raise substantial modifications in American foreign policy about what criteria would be used in selecting nations to partner with. And the parallel that he plans to draw between the Cold War and radical Islamic terrorism, his aides said in previewing the speech, suggests a governing ideological bent to combatting the problem. “We cannot let this evil continue,” he said in his address in Youngstown, Ohio, a place where the driving concern for voters is the economy more than terrorism. “We will defeat radical Islamic terrorism.”
The United States will “consider any nation that will join the fight against it an ally,” Mr. Miller said on a call with reporters before the speech. The Times was not invited to participate in the call, but was able to listen in. He accused the Democrats of creating a “vacuum to let terrorism grow and thrive” and specifically singled out President Obama as “an incompetent president” for his opening to Iran and for allowing chaos to spread throughout the Mideast by supporting the ouster of Hosni Mubarak in Egypt, leading to the rise of Islamic State and spread of Islamic terrorism.
As was the case with the Republican presidential nominee’s speech last week on the economy, Mr. Miller portrayed the terrorism address as a road map, with more detailed speeches to follow. Mr. Trump plans to directly tie President Obama and Hillary Clinton to allowing the seeds of the Islamic State terrorist group to flourish before 2011. “We will not defeat it with closed eyes and silenced voices,” he said of the fight against Islamic terrorism. “We have a president who doesn’t want to say the words. Anyone who cannot name our enemy is not fit to lead our country.”
He also took aim at the approaches of the past Democratic and Republican administrations as outdated given the urgent threats posed to America.
“If I become president, the era of nation building will be brought to a quick and very swift end,” Mr. Trump said. He also said that the United States will partner with any nation willing to fight Islamic terrorism, specifically mentioning Russia, saying the U.S. would conduct “joint military operations” with such countries to defeat the Islamic State.
Stephen Miller, Mr. Trump’s policy adviser, portrayed the terrorism address as a road map, with more detailed speeches to follow - much as was the case with the Republican presidential nominee’s speech last week on the economy.
The speech is also another attempt by aides to Mr. Trump, who favors going off script over teleprompter addresses at his rallies, to redirect his approach to be a more on-message general election candidate.The speech is also another attempt by aides to Mr. Trump, who favors going off script over teleprompter addresses at his rallies, to redirect his approach to be a more on-message general election candidate.
In the speech, Mr. Trump will call for greater scrutiny in screening immigrants, particularly from countries he has described as “exporters” of terrorism. The plan would be to have people answer a questionnaire that could press them on their commitment to “our basic principles of tolerance and pluralism,” on issues ranging from gay rights to women’s rights, Mr. Miller said. If that is not effective, visas could be banned from certain areas of the world. The speech reflects an effort by the Trump campaign to move past the candidate’s broad call to bar Muslim immigrants from entering the United States, issued late last year after the terrorist attacks in San Bernardino, Calif., and in Paris. He has been heavily criticized for suggesting a religious test for entry into the country, and his aides have sought to change the language to reflect the targeting of regions instead, without being specific. But instead of backing away from the words “Muslim ban” when questioned recently, Mr. Trump described the newer version of his proposal as an “expansion.”
“We’re going to make it clear and explicit that just like the Cold War struggle against Communism, our current struggle is against radical Islamic terrorism,” Mr. Miller said. “Just like we did in the Cold War, we’re going to create higher standards for admission than not being a terrorist.” Mr. Trump said “the time is overdue” for better screening of extremists trying to enter the country, calling for “extreme vetting.” He said only those who accept a “tolerent” view of American society would be admitted to the United States.
The speech reflects an effort by the Trump campaign to move past the candidate’s broad call to bar Muslim immigrants from entering the United States, issued late last year after the terrorist attacks in San Bernardino, Calif., and in Paris. He has been heavily criticized for suggesting a religious test for entry into the country, and his aides have sought to change the language to reflect the targeting of regions instead, without being specific. But instead of backing away from the words “Muslim ban” when questioned recently, Mr. Trump described the newer version of his proposal as a Muslim “expansion.” While Mr. Miller said that under a President Trump, the United States would continue to spread a message of promoting a “better way of life” in countries with oppressive governments that foster the Islamic State, he argued there was a distinction between that and “nation building,” which he associated with Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton.
In his call with reporters, Mr. Miller suggested that a nation’s willingness to help the United States fight against a certain type of terrorism would potentially supersede other interests by which America seeks it allies. He did not say whether such a new form of alliances would preclude traditional foes.
While Mr. Miller said the United States would continue to spread a message of promoting a “better way of life” in countries with oppressive governments that foster the Islamic State, he argued there was a distinction between that and “nation building,” which he associated with Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton.
Yet it was President George W. Bush, who opposed such nation building in his 2000 presidential campaign, who became most identified with it after the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, which Mr. Obama opposed. Preparing for his re-election effort in June 2011, Mr. Obama announced the withdrawal of troops in Afghanistan in a speech in which he said, “America, it is time to focus on nation building here at home.”Yet it was President George W. Bush, who opposed such nation building in his 2000 presidential campaign, who became most identified with it after the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, which Mr. Obama opposed. Preparing for his re-election effort in June 2011, Mr. Obama announced the withdrawal of troops in Afghanistan in a speech in which he said, “America, it is time to focus on nation building here at home.”