Presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump says he’d have no problem with asking Congress to formally declare war in the ongoing fight against terrorism, saying the country “probably should have done that in the first place.”
“It wouldn’t bother me at all doing that,” Mr. Trump said. “We probably should have done that in the first place.”
“I’ll study the facts, but I think right now, I would have no problem with doing it, because we are at war,” he said. “By the way, the world is at war.”
Mr. Trump had been questioned on Monday’s “The O’Reilly Factor” on Fox News on whether he would support asking Congress for a declaration of war to fight terrorism and combat groups like the Islamic State, al Qaeda and the Taliban.
Pressed further on whether he would actually ask Congress to pass a declaration of war if elected, Mr. Trump said: “I would have no problem with doing it.”
“Look, we are at war with these people, and they don’t wear uniforms — it’s not your traditional war where it’s a war against Germany, Japan or whoever,” Mr. Trump said. “This is a war against people that are vicious, violent people that we have no idea who they are, where they come from.”
“We’re allowing tens of thousands of them into our country now, so on top of wars on foreign land, wait ’till you see what happens in the future,” he said. “It’s probably not going to be pretty. I hope I’m wrong about that, but it’s probably not going to be pretty.”
“We’re allowing people into our country — we don’t know who they are, where they come from,” he said. “They happen to have cell phones. Some of ’em have cell phones with the ISIS flag on ’em. … We have to be very tough and very vigilant and very smart, or we’re going to be in big trouble.”
Members of Congress of both parties have questioned the Obama administration’s reliance on a 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) as a legal justification for the current campaign against the Islamic State terrorist group, also known as ISIS or ISIL.
President Obama submitted a request to Congress last year to officially authorize the war, but it was criticized on Capitol Hill, with some saying it went too far in allowing limited use of ground troops and others saying it didn’t do enough to lay out a comprehensive plan to stop the terrorists.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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