“You remember the travel ban? On day one I will restore our travel ban,” Donald Trump said on October 28, while addressing a Republican Jewish Convention in Las Vegas.

Donald Trump was referring to the 2017 order issued by his administration, that imposed a blanket ban on the entry of travellers from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen, Iraq and Sudan.

“We will keep radical Islamic terrorists the hell out of our country,” Donald Trump told the gathering, which included some of the most influential Jewish donors.

Notably, the travel ban order issued during the Trump administration was labelled as “racist” and “discriminatory” by his critics. The ban was also challenged before the courts. However, it had a significant appeal among Trump’s core voter base, which supports his hardline anti-immigration agenda.

Rival Joe Biden, after taking over the reins in early 2021, had overturned the travel ban. The decision was taken by the US president in his first week in office.

A White House spokesperson, while responding to Trump’s latest remarks, said Biden “was proud to overturn the vile, un-American Muslim ban enacted by his predecessor.

At the Republican Jewish Convention in Las Vegas, Donald Trump reiterated his support for Israel amidst its ongoing war with the Palestinian militant group Hamas. Trump said that if re-elected, he would “defend our friend and ally in the State of Israel like nobody has ever.”

The conflict between Israel and Hamas is “a fight between civilization and savagery, between decency and depravity, and between good and evil”, the businessman-politician added. His statement comes around a fortnight after he sparked a row by describing Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, which is at loggerheads with the Israeli forces, as “very smart”.

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Updated: 29 Oct 2023, 04:20 PM IST