Trump Suggests His Immigration Stance Could Have Prevented 9/11 Attacks

By Lauren Raab, Los Angeles Times (TNS)

Donald Trump continued his spat with Jeb Bush over the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, implying that had he been president at the time, things “would have been much different.”

“I am extremely, extremely tough on illegal immigration,” the Republican front-runner said on “Fox News Sunday.” “I’m extremely tough on people coming into this country. I believe that if I were running things … I doubt that those people would have been in the country.”

All of the Sept. 11 hijackers entered the country on U.S.-issued visas. However, a federal report did find that they all broke immigration laws — for example, some used fraudulently manipulated passports.

Bush fired back at Trump on CNN, reiterating that his brother, then-President George W. Bush, “responded to a crisis … and he kept us safe.”

He also said Trump is not taking important issues seriously. “Across the spectrum of foreign policy, Mr. Trump talks about things as though he’s still on ‘The Apprentice,’ ” Bush said. “As though it’s some sort of board game.”

Photo: U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a news conference to reveal his tax policy at Trump Tower in Manhattan, New York September 28, 2015. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton