Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump appeared Monday at Youngstown State University in Ohio to deliver a speech on foreign policy and ISIS, in which he laid out ideas consistent with the anti-immigration stance he's built since day one of his campaign. A key part of Trump's plan for immigration includes a full stop to nation building.
Framing his speech as one about "how to make America safe again," Trump immediately began talking about "radical Islamic terrorism," listing many of the terrorist acts claimed by the Islamic State in recent years. "We cannot let this evil continue," Trump said.
Key to Trump's proposed solution to terrorism perpetrated by the Islamic State is to end nation building. Trump said that his administration's main foreign policy goal would be to "halt the spread of radical Islam. All actions should be oriented around this goal and any country which shares this goal will be our ally. Very important." Trump added, "We cannot always choose our friends but we can never fail to recognize our enemies."
Trump said that under his presidency, the US would work with Israel, Egypt, Jordan, and NATO—the latter of which Trump acknowledged he had previously said was obsolete. Trump also mentioned Russia as a strong opponent of ISIS.
Trump went on to compare the "ideological" battle against "radical Islam" to the Cold War, saying the US "needs a new immigration policy immediately" and attempting to make a direct link between immigration and terrorist attacks on US soil. If elected, Trump says he plays to implement "extreme vetting" for immigration candidates and would temporarily suspend immigration from and stop issuing visas to "dangerous and volatile nations" until adequate screening is possible.
Trump first suggested a stop on visas and immigration from certain countries following the deadly attack on Pulse gay nightclub in Orlando in June.
Not saying specifically how his administration would strategically dismantle ISIS, Trump's speech focused on the ways he would limit immigration to the United States from countries whose people are highly vulnerable to ISIS themselves.
