Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump reacted Tuesday to deadly terror attacks in Brussels, saying he would “close up our borders” and advocating torture of the man recently captured for his role in the November terror attacks in Paris.
Before he called into multiple morning news shows, Trump tweeted that Brussels used to be a “beautiful and safe” city.
On Fox News’ “Fox And Friends,” Trump suggested closing America’s borders to prevent terrorism from reaching U.S. shores.
“Well, again, I think I said it. I would close up our borders to people, until we figure out what’s going on,” Trump said. “Look at Brussels, look at Paris, look at so many cities that were great cities. Paris is almost as bad.”
Trump used similar language in December when he proposed a ban on Muslims entering the country.
“We have have to be smart in the U.S. And when people come in, I mean, we’re taking in, we’re taking in people without real documentation. We don’t know where they’re coming from. We don’t know what they’re, you know, we don’t know where they’re from, who they are. You look at them and look at them from any standpoint, they could be ISIS,” Trump said, referencing the Islamic State terrorist group. “They could be ISIS-related.”
Despite Trump’s attempt to link Muslim refugees and migrants to the attacks, no one has claimed responsibility for them yet.
During his call-in interview with NBC’s “TODAY,” Trump said the fact that he’s been talking about terrorism is “probably the reason I’m number one in the polls.”
He also advocated for “doing whatever they have to do” to get information from Salah Abdeslam, the man suspected of planning the terrorist attacks in Paris.
“Frankly, the waterboarding, if it was up to me, and if we changed the laws or had the laws, waterboarding would be fine,” Trump said. “If they could expand the laws, I would do a lot more than waterboarding. You have to get the information from these people. We have to smart and we have to be tough.”
Host Savannah Guthrie then asked if he was in the camp in favor of “torture.”
“Yes, I am. I am in the camp where you have to get the information and you have to get it rapidly,” Trump responded.
Listen to the whole interview via NBC:
