Donald Trump
  Donald Trump  (billionaire businessman, politician) | |
|---|---|
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| Born | Donald John Trump 14 June 1946 Queen's, New York City |
| Alma mater | Fordham University, University of Pennsylvania |
| Religion | Presbyterian |
| Spouse | • Ivana Zelníčková (1977–91) • Marla Maples (1993–99) • Melania Knauss (2005) |
| Member of | Jeffrey Epstein/Black book, Lolita Express/Passengers, Trump family |
| Supposed perpetrator of | 2021 Washington D.C. Riots |
| Interest of | 7th floor group, Sheldon Adelson, Liz Cheney, Maria Farmer, Noor Bin Laden |
| Subpage | •Donald Trump/Conspiracy theories •Donald Trump/Presidency |
Donald Trump is a leading Republican Party contender in the United States presidential election, 2016.[1]
Brokering an Israel-Palestine deal
On 21 March 2016, Donald Trump addressed some 18,000 supporters of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), an influential pro-Israel lobby group, and outlined his most detailed thoughts yet on the prospects for Middle East peace, on curbing Iran’s nuclear ambitions and on defeating the violent extremists of the Islamic State.
Trump’s AIPAC speech, which unusually for him he read from a prepared text, was a mixture of pandering, implausible bluster and contradictory promises. The billionaire denounced the United Nations as an anti-Israeli opponent of democracy. “We will totally dismantle Iran’s global terrorist network, which is big and powerful—but not powerful like us,” he promised, without further explanation. He said he would “dismantle the disastrous deal” struck by President Barack Obama to curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions, then seemed to say that he would enforce it, or perhaps the sanctions regime that preceded it, “like you haven’t seen the terms of a contract enforced.”
In his speech to AIPAC, Trump worked hard to cast himself as sternly pro-Israeli. He variously cited his role as Grand Marshal of the 2004 “Salute to Israel” Parade in New York City and his daughter Ivanka’s conversion to Judaism after marriage. Months after angering a gathering of Jewish Republicans by fudging his views on the status of Jerusalem, Trump bowed to conservative pressure and pledged to AIPAC that he would move the American embassy to that divided city, calling it “the eternal capital of the Jewish people”.
Most straightforwardly, Trump brought his constant campaign-trail refrain about being a savvy businessman and deal-maker to AIPAC, offering America as a broker between Israel and the Palestinians. “Deals are made when parties come to the table and negotiate. Each side must give up something it values in exchange for something it requires,” he told delegates.
In the poisonously divided politics of 2016 Washington, even suggesting that Israel might have to give anything up in the name of peace involves challenging conservative shibboleths. In recent years, Republicans have aligned themselves with the views of Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, in suggesting that Israel should not be prodded to engage in talks, because the Palestinian side has shown no sincerity or seriousness as a potential partner for peace.[2]
"Great respect for Muslims"
On 23 March 2016, in an interview with Piers Morgan on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, Donald Trump said he had “great respect for Muslims” and had “many friends that are Muslims”. But when asked what the Muslim community should do to prevent radicalism, Trump replied:
- “I would say this to the Muslims, in the United States also: when they see trouble they have to report, and they are not reporting it. They are absolutely not reporting it. That’s a big problem.”
Speaking in the aftermath of the Brussels atrocities, Trump said:
- “I knew Brussels years ago, I was there probably three or four times and it was so beautiful, so secure and so safe. And now it’s an armed camp - I’m talking about before this new bombing. It’s a different world, a different place. There’s no assimilation. What’s going on there and what’s going on in other cities like Paris and others is a disgrace - an absolute disgrace - that we allow it to happen.”
Trump criticised how the recently arrested Paris bomber, Salah Abdeslam, was “coddled and taken care of by people that live in the neighbourhood”, and claimed “a lot of people in the community” knew the California attacks were being planned. He went on:
- “I have great respect for Muslims. I have many friends that are Muslims. I’m just saying that there is something with radicalised portion that is very bad and very dangerous.”
Trump signalled that efforts to destroy ISIS were not enough. He told the ex-Daily Mirror editor:
- “I would hit ISIS so hard you wouldn’t believe it. I’d get the people over there to put up their soldiers. It’s about time somebody did it. I’d have such back up like you’ve never seen in terms of air power like. You’ve got to take them out and you’ve got to take them out harshly and you’ve got to take them out fast.”
Trump had previously claimed that parts of London were so radicalised that police were afraid to go on the streets, comments dismissed by the Met Police and David Cameron's government.[3]
