A longer version of Donald Trump’s thoughts on terror is available on Ohio.com.
Position: Against nation-building and regime change
Implementation Plans:
“Our current strategy of nation-building and regime change is a proven failure. We have created the vacuums that allow terrorists to grow and thrive.
“If I become president, the era of nation-building will be ended. Our new approach, which must be shared by both parties in America, by our allies overseas, and by our friends in the Middle East, must be to halt the spread of radical Islam…As president, I will call for an international conference focused on this goal. We will work side-by-side with our friends in the Middle East, including our greatest ally, Israel. We will partner with King Abdullah of Jordan, and President Sisi of Egypt, and all others who recognize this ideology of death that must be extinguished.
We will also work closely with NATO on this new mission. I had previously said that NATO was obsolete because it failed to deal adequately with terrorism; since my comments they have changed their policy and now have a new division focused on terror threats.
“I also believe that we could find common ground with Russia in the fight against ISIS. They too have much at stake in the outcome in Syria, and have had their own battles with Islamic terrorism.
“My administration will aggressively pursue joint and coalition military operations to crush and destroy ISIS, international cooperation to cut off their funding, expanded intelligence sharing, and cyber warfare to disrupt and disable their propaganda and recruiting. We cannot allow the internet to be used as a recruiting tool, and for other purposes, by our enemy — we must shut down their access to this form of communication, and we must do so immediately.
“Military, cyber and financial warfare will all be essential in dismantling Islamic terrorism. But we must use ideological warfare as well. Just as we won the Cold War, in part, by exposing the evils of communism and the virtues of free markets, so too must we take on the ideology of radical Islam…my administration will speak out against the oppression of women, gays and people of different faith.”
“…my administration will not telegraph exact military plans to the enemy.”
Position: Revising immigration procedures to control terror
Implementation Plans:
“A Trump administration will establish a clear principle that will govern all decisions pertaining to immigration: We should only admit into this country those who share our values and respect our people. In the Cold War, we had an ideological screening test. The time is overdue to develop a new screening test for the threats we face today.
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. Those who do not believe in our constitution, or who support bigotry and hatred, will not be admitted for immigration into the country.
“Only those who we expect to flourish in our country — and to embrace a tolerant American society — should be issued immigrant visas. To put these new procedures in place, we will have to temporarily suspend immigration from some of the most dangerous and volatile regions of the world that have a history of exporting terrorism.
“As soon as I take office, I will ask the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security to identify a list of regions where adequate screening cannot take place. We will stop processing visas from those areas until such time as it is deemed safe to resume based on new circumstances or new procedures. The size of current immigration flows are simply too large to perform adequate screening. We admit about 100,000 permanent immigrants from the Middle East every year. Beyond that, we admit hundreds of thousands of temporary workers and visitors from the same regions. If we don’t control the numbers, we can’t perform adequate screening.
“Immigration officers will also have their powers restored: those who are guests in our country that are preaching hate will be asked to return home.
“Finally, we will pursue aggressive criminal or immigration charges against anyone who lends material support to terrorism. Similar to the effort to take down the mafia, this will be the understood mission of every federal investigator and prosecutor in the country.”
Position: Establish a Commission on Radical Islam
Implementation Plans:
“…one of my first acts as president will be to establish a Commission on Radical Islam — which will include reformist voices in the Muslim community who will hopefully work with us. We want to build bridges and erase divisions.
“The goal of the commission will be to identify and explain to the American public the core convictions and beliefs of radical Islam, to identify the warning signs of radicalization, and to expose the networks in our society that support radicalization. This commission will be used to develop new protocols for local police officers, federal investigators and immigration screeners.”
Position: Create safe zones in Syria for refugees
Implementation Plans:
TRUMP: We’ll build safe zones over in Syria. We’ll do something. We have to have the [Persian] gulf states pay for it, because the gulf states, they make nothing but money...
HANNITY: In other words, the refugees, you’ll help them.
TRUMP: A hundred percent.
HANNITY: You’ll give food, water, medicine...
TRUMP: Oh, 100 percent.
HANNITY: … supplies, baby formula, but it will be a safe zone that’s protected and not bring them here.
TRUMP: A hundred percent. A hundred percent.
Other Statements:
“In the Middle East, we have people chopping the heads off Christians. We have things that we have never seen before. Not since medieval times have people seen what’s going on. I would bring back waterboarding and I’d bring back a hell of a lot worse than waterboarding.” (via ABC GOP Debate, 2.6.16)
“Well, I don’t want to close mosques; I want mosques surveilled. And all I would do, certainly there are certain hot spots and everybody knows they’re hot spots. Good material was coming out of those mosques. We were learning a lot. And they were stopping problems and potential problems by learning what was happening. I don’t want to close up mosques but things have to happen where, you have got to use strong measures or you’re going to see buildings coming down all over New York City and elsewhere.” (via ABC This Week interview, 11.22.15)
“Anyone who cannot name our enemy, is not fit to lead this country. Anyone who cannot condemn the hatred, oppression and violence of Radical Islam lacks the moral clarity to serve as our president.
“The rise of ISIS is the direct result of policy decisions made by President Obama and Secretary Clinton. Let’s look back at the Middle East at the very beginning of 2009, before the Obama-Clinton Administration took over. Libya was stable. Syria was under control. Egypt was ruled by a secular president and an ally of the United States. Iraq was experiencing a reduction in violence. The group that would become what we now call ISIS was close to being extinguished. Iran was being choked off by economic sanctions.”
“We will also keep open Guantanamo Bay, and place a renewed emphasis on human intelligence. Drone strikes will remain part of our strategy, but we will also seek to capture high-value targets to gain needed information to dismantle their organizations. Foreign combatants will be tried in military commissions.”
“But just like we couldn’t defeat communism without acknowledging that communism exists — or explaining its evils — we can’t defeat Radical Islamic Terrorism unless we do the same. This also means we have to promote the exceptional virtues of our own way of life — and expecting that newcomers to our society do the same. Pride in our institutions, our history and our values should be taught by parents and teachers, and impressed upon all who join our society. Assimilation is not an act of hostility, but an expression of compassion. Our system of government, and our American culture, is the best in the world and will produce the best outcomes for all who adopt it. This approach will not only make us safer, but bring us closer together as a country. Renewing this spirit of Americanism will help heal the divisions in our country. It will do so by emphasizing what we have in common — not what pulls us apart.”
(via Donald Trump speech in Youngstown, Aug. 15)
Information gathered by the Jefferson Center for the Your Vote Ohio project. Visit either on Facebook, or at www.yourvoteohio.org. The Jefferson Center is a nonpartisan organization based in St. Paul, Minn., and conducts citizen research and engagement on multiple subjects.