Donald Trump's spokeswoman struggles to explain the state of proposed Muslim ban

Trump spokeswoman Katrina Pierson tries to explain Donald Trump&#039;s Muslim ban — (Image credit: CNN/YouTube)

Over the last two weeks, Donald Trump has made a rhetorical shift in his proposal to temporarily ban all Muslims from entering the U.S., a policy he unveiled in December after the San Bernardino shooting. After the Orlando nightclub shooting, Trump gave a scripted speech in which he said he "will suspend immigration from areas of the world where there is a proven history of terrorism against the United States, Europe, or our allies." In Scotland over the weekend, Trump said he "would limit specific terrorist countries, and we know who those terrorist countries are," then added later that when "you have a country that's loaded up with terrorism, we don't want the people coming in until they're very strongly vetted."

So is Trump's policy now that people of any religion from unspecified "terror states" will be banned, or only those who can't be "strongly vetted," or is it still all Muslims, with some exceptions? Trump is preparing a policy memo to clarify the state of his Muslim ban, but spokeswoman Hope Hicks told The Associated Press on Monday that Trump "has been very clear," and it's the media that has "tried to cause confusion."

Another spokeswoman, Katrina Pierson, tried to clarify Trump's policy on Monday to CNN's Brianna Keilar. "There has been no change," she said. Trump "still does not want to allow individuals to come into this country who cannot be vetted." "Individuals or Muslims?" Keilar asked. "Well, it doesn't really matter where you're coming from," Pierson said, reiterating that Trump had added "terrorist nations" to his policy. Keilar pointed out that Paris and Belgium have suffered attacks by Belgian and French citizens. "That's the point," Pierson said.

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You can also watch below to see Keilar explain the long vetting process for refugees being settled in the U.S., and Pierson having none of it. Peter Weber

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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.