2016 Trump's new normal The floundering Republican nominee packs his foreign policy speech with go-to half-truths and divisive policy ideas.

Donald Trump again blamed President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton for the rise of ISIS. He questioned his opponent’s “physical stamina” to eradicate the terrorist group. And he again interspersed what his campaign hyped as a major foreign policy speech — his third to date — with falsehoods and half-truths, promising an end to nation building abroad by obscuring his past positions on the subject.

He criticized an Iraq invasion that, contrary to his own retelling, he previously called the “right decision.” He bashed a war in Libya and a government overthrow in Egypt, both of which he supported. He lamented putting boots on the ground in the Middle East and also that the U.S. did not keep more troops in Iraq to “take the oil.” He criticized Clinton’s ties to governments of countries that deny women and gays broader human rights—and then again suggested how “nice” it would be to have improved relations with Russia, a country where gays are routinely persecuted. In speaking about the threat of homegrown terrorists, Trump again asserted — wrongly — that people saw bombs all over the San Bernardino shooter’s apartment.


Monday’s speech was riddled with the contradictions that have characterized Trump’s campaign from the get-go. But with Trump having dug himself into so deep a hole before the fall campaign has even begun — largely as a result of controversies driven by his own embellishments, misstatements and aggressive rhetoric that have become his new normal — Monday’s performance was a harsh reminder for the GOP about the depths to which his campaign has sunk.

All that stood out as new was his sedated delivery, as the beleaguered GOP nominee read slowly and haltingly as he rotated his entire body back and forth, from the teleprompter on the left to the one on the right, for more than 40 minutes. And despite his more measured delivery, Trump’s words and themes — including a proposal to institute severe tests for immigrants that went beyond his plan to temporarily ban Muslims from entering the United States — were again aimed more at the economically and racially aggrieved Americans already supporting his campaign than at the swing voters who could help lift him out of the doldrums.

“Political correctness has replaced common sense in our society,” Trump said. “Crime has risen to levels that no one thought ... they would ever, ever see. It is a catastrophe. We have enough problems in our country. We don’t need another one.”

Recounting a series of recent terrorist attacks in the U.S. and Europe, Trump said the U.S. cannot let the evil actions of the Islamic State continue, nor can the nation allow “the hateful ideology of radical Islam” to pervade across the world.

“We will defeat radical Islamic terrorism, just as we have defeated every threat we’ve faced at every age and before,” Trump said. “But we will not — we will not, remember this — defeat it with closed eyes or silenced voices.”

After repeatedly hurling accusations last week at Clinton and Obama, stating they were the “founders” of the Islamic State, Trump turned it down a notch on Monday but still blamed them for enabling the terrorist group.

“The rise of ISIS is the direct result of policy decisions made by President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton,” Trump said, abandoning at least temporarily his moniker “Crooked Hillary.”

Trump maintained that before Obama and Clinton took office in 2009, Syria was under control and the Islamic State was near extinction.

“Fast-forward to today. What have the decisions of Obama-Clinton produced?” Trump asked.

“Syria is in the midst of a disastrous civil war. ISIS controls large portions of territory,” Trump said, adding that “Iraq is in chaos, and ISIS is on the loose.”

But Trump leaned in even harder on his immigration proposals, despite alienating a good portion of the GOP with his plan to temporarily ban Muslim immigrants.

He introduced the idea of a modernized Cold War-era ideological screening test for potential immigrants, a guiding principle “that will govern all decisions pertaining to immigration” and a suspension of immigration from regions with “a history of exporting terrorism.”

“In the Cold War, we had an ideological screening test. The time is overdue to develop a new screening test for the threats we face today,” Trump said. “I call it extreme vetting. I call it extreme, extreme vetting.”

He also touted foreign policy proposals, which included plans to create an international commission alongside Jordan, Egypt and “all others who recognize this ideology of death that must be extinguished,” work closely with NATO to stop the spread of “radical Islam” and coalition military operations to “crush and destroy ISIS,” “decimate Al Qaeda” and “starve funding for Iran-backed Hamas and Hezbollah.”

But unlike Clinton, Trump said, his administration won’t disclose its military plans for the enemy to see — another example the real estate mogul pointed to as evidence that Clinton lacks the judgment and disposition to be president.

“Incident after incident proves again and again: Hillary Clinton lacks the judgment — as said by Bernie Sanders — stability and temperament and the moral character to lead our nation,” Trump said. “[More] importantly, she also lacks the mental and physical stamina to take on ISIS and all of the many adversaries we face.”

“It is now time for a new approach,” he continued. “Our current strategy of nation-building and regime change is a proven, absolute failure. We have created the vacuums that allow terrorism to grow and thrive.”

Trump concluded his remarks by calling for tough immigration laws coupled with a strong military effort to destroy the threat of terrorism, attempting a unifying message by pledging to build bridges and protect equality.

“This is my pledge to the American people,” he said. “As your president, I will be your single, greatest champion.”

It echoed the message he delivered to a television audience of 32 million people on the final night of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. But after nearly a monthlong slide, Trump appears to be speaking to a shrinking audience of open-minded swing voters—and losing the ability to dominate news coverage of the campaign.

Almost as soon as his speech had ended, cable networks shifted from a cursory wrapup on the speech back to what they’d been covering before it began: the new report of his campaign manager’s work with Russia allies in Ukraine.

Matt Nussbaum contributed to this report.