Just hours after the apprehension of a man suspected of involvement in weekend bombings in New York and New Jersey, Republican nominee Donald Trump left open the possibility that he should be treated as an enemy combatant.

Speaking to a crowd on Monday in Fort Myers, Florida, Trump said of Ahmad Khan Rahami: “We must use whatever lawful methods are available to obtain information from the apprehended suspect to get information before it’s no longer timely. And Congress should pass measures to ensure that foreign enemy combatants are treated as such. These are enemies.”

Born in Afghanistan, Rahami at the age of seven moved to the United States and became a naturalized citizen. Under the 2004 supreme court decision in Hamdi v Rumsfeld, while US citizens can be treated as enemy combatants, they have the right to challenge that designation in federal court and file a habeas corpus petition to be charged.

The point of declaring someone an enemy combatant is to allow for indefinite detention until the end of hostilities. Thus, under current law, Congress would need to override the court’s Hamdi decision in order to allow Rahami to be detained indefinitely.

A campaign aide, who spoke to the Guardian on condition of anonymity, said: “Mr Trump was making the point that Congress needs to pass laws to provide clear guidance in these situations.” The aide did not respond to a question about whether the Republican nominee believed Rahami should be treated as an enemy combatant.

Republican senator Lindsey Graham has already suggested that Rahami could be treated as an enemy combatant solely for the purpose of gathering intelligence. However, the South Carolina senator made clear that Rahami should be tried in a civilian court and not a military one.



Rahami was arrested on Monday after a dramatic manhunt and shootout in New Jersey that followed bombings on Saturday in New York and New Jersey. A bomb in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan left 29 people injured in New York. Authorities said that they had linked Rahami not only to the Chelsea bombing, but also to another unexploded device found nearby. They also said they believed he was linked to a pipe bomb that blew up in Seaside Park, New Jersey, and explosive devices found in Elizabeth, New Jersey.

At the rally on Monday, Trump used the bombings as an opportunity to promote his anti-immigration message. “Immigration security is national security,” he said, as he bashed Hillary Clinton for having what he described as “the most open borders of anyone ever to seek the presidency”.



He went on to say that Clinton refuses to consider “the worldview” of those who seek to immigrate to the US and that terrorists “want her so badly to be your president”. He particularly attacked the process that allowed Rahami to immigrate as a child: “This thug today, they think he came through Afghanistan. What kind of screening procedures were performed?”

This thug today, they think he came through Afghanistan. What kind of screening procedures were performed? Donald Trump

When asked about the attacks at a press conference earlier on Monday, Clinton insisted, “I am absolutely in favor of and have long been an advocate for tough vetting, for making sure that we don’t let people into this country – and not just people who come here to settle, but we need a better visa system.”

She added: “This is a serious challenge, we are well equipped to meet it, and we can do so with smart law enforcement, good intelligence and in concert with our values.”

Trump also bemoaned what he said was the plush treatment that would be accorded to Rahami. “The bad part,” he said, “now we will give him amazing hospitalization. He will be taken care of by some of the best doctors in the world. He will be given a fully modern and updated hospital room. And he’ll probably even have room service, knowing the way our country is. And, on top of that, he will be represented by an outstanding lawyer.”

Trump concluded by noting “and his punishment will not be what it once would have been. What a sad situation.”

The Republican nominee’s speech came shortly before he was reportedly scheduled to meet with Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who is in New York for the United Nations general assembly. Trump and his campaign have not said whether the Republican nominee will meet with any other world leaders as well.

Spencer Ackerman in New York contributed reporting