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Donald Trump at the 20th Annual Semper Fidelis Gala in New York. April 22, 2015 (photo: U.S. Marine Corps)
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Donald Trump at the 20th Annual Semper Fidelis Gala in New York. April 22, 2015 (photo: U.S. Marine Corps)
Tuesday, 8 December 2015 - 16:12
Dutch Foreign Min. hits out at "discriminatory" Donald Trump
With reporting by Thomas Schulze.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Bert Koenders was unnerved by U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump's recent statements calling for a block of all Muslims trying to enter the United States. "These statements by Trump are not helpful, and that's putting it mildly," the Netherlands official said on Tuesday.
Trump's call to close off American borders to all Muslims was "discriminatory," Koenders said, pointing out that Trump was singling out and cornering an entire religion. "You are actually telling all Muslims in the world that they are not welcome in the U.S. This goes against all the values and traditions of that country," Koenders stated during a press conference following his meeting with European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini.
“We need a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States while we figure out what the hell is going on,” the Republican presidential candidate stated onboard the USS Yorktown on Monday. The speech on the World War II aircraft carrier followed the release of a Trump campaign press statement outlining a similar position.
He said the United States needs to ban Muslims until it can sort out what Muslim's truly think about the country, adding, “there is great hatred towards Americans by large segments of the Muslim population.” The comments followed Trump claims that he personally witnessed Muslims in New Jersey cheering as they watched the World Trade Center towers fall to the ground during the terrorist attacks in the United States on September 11, 2001.
"Until we are able to determine and understand this problem and the dangerous threat it poses, our country cannot be the victims of horrendous attacks by people that believe only in Jihad, and have no sense of reason or respect for human life," Trump said in a press release issued on Monday, the anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.
The Dutch Foreign Minister called Trump's comments "the most irritating form of discrimination."