The Cable
The Cable goes inside the foreign policy machine, from Foggy Bottom to Turtle Bay, the White House to Embassy Row.

Donald Trump Wants to Bar All Muslims From Entering the United States

Donald Trump sharply escalates his rhetoric toward Muslims — he wants to keep all of them out of America.

GettyImages-500116134
GettyImages-500116134

Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump has said the United States should consider databases to track Muslims. He also has said he would “strongly consider” closing mosques to prevent terrorism. Now, in the wake of last week’s San Bernardino terrorist attacks that killed 14, Trump wants to keep Muslims from immigrating to the United States — at least for now.

Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump has said the United States should consider databases to track Muslims. He also has said he would “strongly consider” closing mosques to prevent terrorism. Now, in the wake of last week’s San Bernardino terrorist attacks that killed 14, Trump wants to keep Muslims from immigrating to the United States — at least for now.

That’s the suggestion Trump made in a statement Monday, and it marks a sharp escalation of his anti-Muslim rhetoric. After terrorist attacks in Paris and now in California, the billionaire businessman said the United States should close its borders to those who practice Islam until “our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on.”

“Without looking at the various polling data, it is obvious to anybody the hatred is beyond comprehension. Where this hatred comes from and why we will have to determine,” Trump said in the statement. “Until we are able to determine and understand this problem and the dangerous threat it poses, our country cannot be the victims of horrendous attacks by people that believe only in [jihad], and have no sense of reason or respect for human life.”

In a cynical — given the context — use of his campaign slogan, Trump added: “If I win the election for [president], we are going to Make America Great Again.”

Trump’s comments came a day after President Barack Obama implored Americans not to hold all Muslims accountable for the acts of a few. The president attempted to calm the nation after U.S. citizen Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, and Tashfeen Malik, 27, his Pakistani-born wife, committed what the FBI described as an “act of terrorism” when they shot up a local government holiday office party last week.

Other Republican presidential candidates have called for more aggressive terrorist investigations and increased intelligence gathering, as well as preventing Muslim refugees entering the United States from Syria. But only Trump wants to ban the entry of all Muslims, a move clearly designed to mine the deepest depths of U.S. Islamophobia.

Photo credit: Scott Olson/Getty Images

More from Foreign Policy

Keri Russell as Kate Wyler walks by a State Department Seal from a scene in The Diplomat, a new Netflix show about the foreign service.
Keri Russell as Kate Wyler walks by a State Department Seal from a scene in The Diplomat, a new Netflix show about the foreign service.

At Long Last, the Foreign Service Gets the Netflix Treatment

Keri Russell gets Drexel furniture but no Senate confirmation hearing.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and French President Emmanuel Macron speak in the garden of the governor of Guangdong's residence in Guangzhou, China, on April 7.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and French President Emmanuel Macron speak in the garden of the governor of Guangdong's residence in Guangzhou, China, on April 7.

How Macron Is Blocking EU Strategy on Russia and China

As a strategic consensus emerges in Europe, France is in the way.

Chinese President Jiang Zemin greets U.S. President George W. Bush prior to a meeting of APEC leaders in 2001.
Chinese President Jiang Zemin greets U.S. President George W. Bush prior to a meeting of APEC leaders in 2001.

What the Bush-Obama China Memos Reveal

Newly declassified documents contain important lessons for U.S. China policy.

A girl stands atop a destroyed Russian tank.
A girl stands atop a destroyed Russian tank.

Russia’s Boom Business Goes Bust

Moscow’s arms exports have fallen to levels not seen since the Soviet Union’s collapse.