on immigration
Trump threatens to withhold foreign aid for 'certain countries' where immigrants come from
President Trump on Wednesday said that the U.S. should revoke aid to any country that allows immigrants to come to America. During a roundtable meeting about immigration loopholes and gang violence, Trump offered what he claimed would be a simple solution.
"We're going to work out something where every time somebody comes in from a certain country, we're going to deduct a rather large amount of money from what we give them in aid," said Trump to cheers, "if we give them aid at all."
Trump said that many countries encourage citizens who commit crimes or are involved in gangs to go to the U.S. "They'll let you think they're trying to stop this — they're not trying to stop it," he said. "They don't want the people that we're getting in that country."
The president additionally doubled down on a statement from his last roundtable meeting on immigration. Trump was criticized for calling immigrants involved in gang violence "animals," but he repeated himself on Wednesday. "I called them animals the other day and I was met with rebuke," said Trump. "They said, 'They're people.' They're not people. These are animals."