Donald Trump does a U-turn, says Muslim ban not just 'suggestion'

Washington, May 13: Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has said his proposal to temporarily ban Muslims from entering the US was not just a "suggestion" and if elected to the White House he would not allow Syrian refugees who are "not vetted properly" to come in.

"No, I would not allow people to come in from Syria. They are not vetted properly," Trump told Fox News last night. Responding to a question on his remarks a day earlier that his proposal was just a suggestion, the real-estate tycoon said it was not and that he would impement it as Syrian refugees were "moving in by the thousands."

"We don't know who they are, and if you look at the migration, you have a lot of young strong men. You look at the women. Where are the women and children? You don't have many by comparison," Trump said.

"We cannot allow people to come in from Syria, and I would stop it and I would stop it immediately. We have tens of thousands of people coming into this country. We don't know who they are. There's no paperwork. There's no documentation," Trump asserted.

Trump suggested that there should be "safe zones" built in Syria and he would get the Gulf states to pay for it because "our country has no money."

"We've spent now almost USD 5 trillion in the Middle East. We can't do this anymore. We have to get back. Now, we have to knock the hell out of ISIS. That I have to say. But we have to get back to rebuilding our country," Trump said.

Trump's opponents took a dig on his controversial policy. "Donald Trump's ongoing support for his dangerous ban on Muslims entering the United States remains strong, despite broad agreement that such a divisive measure would only make America less safe. It is clear that Donald Trump does not have the temperament or judgment needed to occupy the White House," the Democratic National Committee said.

The Hillary Clinton Campaign said there has been no change in Trump's policy as it is still posted on his website. "His latest attempt at a makeover, unsurprisingly, runs afoul of his actual comments," the campaign said.

Last December in a statement Trump called for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the US until "our country's representatives can figure out what is going on."

PTI