Former U.S. President Donald Trump stated on Saturday that people would leave the United States if he is re-elected, as he intends to take strict measures against immigration.
Trump, while delivering a speech to a large gathering of his supporters in the city of Durham, New Hampshire, suggested that some Americans would choose to move abroad if he resumes the presidency.
Quoted by Newsweek magazine, Trump proclaimed, “You know what’s going to happen once we win, people will start fleeing the country, they’ll leave before we do anything because they will understand that I am going to reinstigate and extend the travel ban from countries infested with terrorism.”
He continued, “And I will impose rigorous ideological screening for all undocumented immigrants. If you hate America, if you aim to obliterate Israel, and if you sympathize with jihadists, then we frankly do not want you in our country, we do not want you.”
During his previous term, Trump initially implemented a travel ban from certain countries through an executive order in January 2017. The ban restricted entry for individuals from Libya, Iran, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen, in addition to North Korea and Venezuela.
The order was later expanded to include Myanmar (Burma), Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Sudan. However, President Joe Biden reversed his predecessor’s travel ban by signing an executive order on his first day in office.
According to Newsweek's report, they attempted to get a comment from Trump's campaign team via email regarding the former president's speech but did not receive a response.
Trump is considered the leading contender in the Republican Party's primary elections to select its candidate for the 2024 presidential race.
The magazine notes that the former president continues to rally his supporters behind the "Make America Great Again" movement, which heavily relies on anti-immigration policy.
In a reported jest during a large gathering in Macon, Georgia, as part of his re-election campaign, Trump said that if Biden won the presidency, he might leave the country.
He added on that occasion, “Competing against the worst president in the history of American presidencies exerts pressure on me. Can you imagine if I lost, I might have to leave the country? I don’t know.”
