Washington: Following the deadly Orlando shooting, Donald Trump has made strong changes in calls for a ban on Muslims entering the United States and said if elected president he will “suspend immigration” from countries with a “proven history of terrorism”.
The presumptive Republican presidential nominee on Monday redoubled calls for temporarily banning Muslims, saying that they would only be allowed in if they were “properly and perfectly” screened.
“When I’m elected, I will suspend immigration from areas of the world where there is a proven history of terrorism against the United States, Europe or our allies, until we fully understand how to end these threats,” Trump told supporters in New Hampshire.
“We cannot continue to allow thousands upon thousands of people to pour into our country, many of whom have the same thought process as this savage killer.”
Furious Trump referred to the Orlando shooting suspect Omar Mateen as an Afghanistan native.
“Each year, the United States permanently admits more than 100,000 immigrants from the Middle East, and many more from Muslim countries outside the Middle East. Our government has been admitting ever-growing numbers, year after year, without any effective plan for our security,” he said.
He accused his likely opponent, Hillary Clinton, of trying to expand immigration and refugee programmes to allow more Syrians in, calling the move a “Trojan horse.”
Earlier on Monday, Obama said there was no clear evidence that the attack at a nightclub, which left 49 dead, was directed from abroad, pointing out that the killer had been influenced by “extremist propaganda” over the Internet.
Trump has been violently increasing his remarks targeting Muslims since the deadly Paris attacks, and again after the San Bernardino shooting attack in California.