potential for conflict with military forces from nuclear-armed Russia.
In an
interview focused largely on foreign policy, Trump said defeating Islamic State
is a higher priority than persuading Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step
down, playing down a long-held goal of U.S. policy.
Trump
questioned how Clinton would negotiate with Russian President Vladimir Putin
after demonizing him; blamed President Barack Obama for a downturn in U.S.
relations with the Philippines under its new president, Rodrigo Duterte;
bemoaned a lack of Republican unity behind his candidacy, and said he would
easily win the election if the party leaders would support him.
“If we had
party unity, we couldn’t lose this election to Hillary Clinton,” he said.
On Syria's
civil war, Trump said Clinton could drag the United States into a world war
with a more aggressive posture toward resolving the conflict.
Clinton has
called for the establishment of a no-fly zone and “safe zones” on the ground to
protect non-combatants. Some analysts fear that protecting those zones could
bring the United States into direct conflict with Russian fighter jets.
"What we
should do is focus on ISIS. We should not be focusing on Syria," said
Trump as he dined on fried eggs and sausage at his Trump National Doral golf
resort. "You’re going to end up in World War Three over Syria if we listen
to Hillary Clinton.
"You’re
not fighting Syria any more, you’re fighting Syria, Russia and Iran, all right?
Russia is a nuclear country, but a country where the nukes work as opposed to
other countries that talk," he said.
leftright
7/7leftright
Clinton's
campaign dismissed the criticism, noting that both Republican and Democratic
national security experts have denounced Trump as unfit to be
commander-in-chief.
"Once
again, he is parroting Putin's talking points and playing to Americans' fears,
all while refusing to lay out any plans of his own for defeating ISIS or
alleviating humanitarian suffering in Syria," Clinton spokesman Jesse
Lehrich said in a statement.
Trump said
Assad is much stronger now than he was three years ago and said getting Assad
to leave power was less important than defeating Islamic State.
"Assad is
secondary, to me, to ISIS," he said.
OBAMA FOCUSED
'ON HIS GOLF GAME'
On Russia,
Trump again knocked Clinton's handling of U.S.-Russian relations while
secretary of state and said her harsh criticism of Putin raised questions about
"how she is going to go back and negotiate with this man who she has made
to be so evil," if she wins the presidency.
On the
deterioration of ties with the Philippines, Trump aimed his criticism at Obama,
saying the president "wants to focus on his golf game" rather than
engage with world leaders.
Since assuming
office, Duterte has expressed open hostility toward the United States,
rejecting criticism of his violent anti-drug clampdown, using an expletive to
describe Obama and telling the United States not to treat his country
"like a dog with a leash."
The Obama
administration has expressed optimism that the two countries can remain firm
allies.
Trump said
Duterte's latest comments showed "a lack of respect for our country."
c
The interview
comes two weeks before the Nov. 8 election, with Trump trailing badly in the
polls. He repeated his assertion that the "media is rigging the
polls" and said his supporters were upset with Republican Party
leadership.
"The
people are very angry with the leadership of this party, because this is an
election that we will win 100 percent if we had support from the top. I think
we’re going to win it anyway."
He said if he
wins he would not consider putting Democrats in his cabinet but would work with
them on legislation.
Follow Solenzo Blog on
0 Comments