Donald Trump doubles down on torture, war crimes


At Thursday's Fox News debate, moderator Brett Baier told Donald Trump that almost 100 national security experts signed a letter pledging to actively oppose Trump, in part because of his support for torture, and that top generals and intelligence officials have said that the military will refuse to follow Trump's orders on torture, "because they've been trained to turn down and refuse illegal orders. So what would you do, as commander in chief, if members of the U.S. military refused to carry out those orders?"
"They won't refuse," Trump said. "They're not going to refuse me." Even if the orders violated the law? Baier asked. Trump answered that Ted Cruz was waffling on waterboarding at an earlier debate, and when they asked him, "I said, it's fine, and if we want to go stronger, I'll go stronger, too. Because, frankly, that's the way I feel." Baier asked Trump about his plan to kill the children and families of terrorists, a war crime. "I'm a leader, I've always been a leader, I've never had any problem leading people," Trump said. "If I say do it, they're going to do it." Watch the exchange below. Peter Weber
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Is the Trump-Putin bromance over... again?
Today's Big Question The US president has admitted he's 'p*ssed off' with his opposite number
-
Jurassic World Rebirth: enjoyable sequel hampered by plot holes
Talking Point The latest dinosaur reboot captures the essence of the original – but leans too heavily on 'CGI-heavy set pieces'
-
Will James Gunn's risky Superman movie pay off?
Talking Point First film in DC's rebooted universe marks a new direction for the franchise
-
Australian woman found guilty of mushroom murders
speed read Erin Patterson murdered three of her ex-husband's relatives by serving them toxic death cap mushrooms
-
Combs convicted on 2 of 5 charges, denied bail
Speed Read Sean 'Diddy' Combs was acquitted of the more serious charges of racketeering and sex trafficking
-
Sniper kills 2 Idaho firefighters in ambush
Speed Read A man started a wildfire, then fired a rifle at first responders when they arrived
-
Weinstein convicted of sex crime in retrial
Speed Read The New York jury delivered a mixed and partial verdict at the disgraced Hollywood producer's retrial
-
'King of the Hill' actor shot dead outside home
speed read Jonathan Joss was fatally shot by a neighbor who was 'yelling violent homophobic slurs,' says his husband
-
DOJ, Boulder police outline attacker's confession
speed read Mohamed Sabry Soliman planned the attack for a year and 'wanted them all to die'
-
Assailant burns Jewish pedestrians in Boulder
speed read Eight people from the Jewish group were hospitalized after a man threw Molotov cocktails in a 'targeted act of violence'
-
Driver rams van into crowd at Liverpool FC parade
speed read 27 people were hospitalized following the attack