President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he would consider sending Sayfullo Saipov, the Uzbek national who plowed a rented truck through a bike lane full of cyclists and pedestrians on Tuesday, to the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

'I would certainly consider that, yes. I would certainly consider that. Send him to Gitmo,' Trump said.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters hours later during a briefing that 'the point he was making is that he supports – or would support that, but he wasn't necessarily advocating for it.'

Trump 'certainly would support it if he felt like that was the best move,' she added cryptically.

Separately, Senate Armed Services Committee chairman John McCain, a Republican who has tangled with the president on taxes and Obamacare, said Saipov should be considered an 'enemy combatant' and denied Miranda rights by police.

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President Donald Trump said as he began a cabinet meeting on Wednesday that he would consider sending suspected terrorist Sayfullo Saipov to the Guantanamo Bay military prison

Sayfullo Saipov, the Uzbek national who plowed a rented truck through a bike lane full of cyclists and pedestrians on Tuesday, was admitted to the U.S. in 2010 under the State Department's Diversity Immigrant Visa Program

The president also declared that he is already moving to terminate the State Department's diversity-oriented visa lottery program, which granted Saipov entry into the United States in 2010.

'I am today starting the process of terminating the diversity lottery program. I'm going to ask Congress to immediately initiate or get rid of this program,' he said.

Trump called Saipov 'an animal' during remarks before a cabinet meeting at the White House.

'He came in through the diversity program as you know, and we’re going to stop it,' the president vowed.

On Capitol Hill, McCain said in a statement that Americans should recognize terror attacks as 'acts of war.'

'As such, the New York terror suspect should be held and interrogated – thoroughly, responsibly, and humanely– as an enemy combatant consistent with the Law of Armed Conflict,' McCain added.

'He should not be read Miranda Rights, as enemy combatants are not entitled to them. As soon as possible, the administration should notify Congress how it plans to proceed with the interrogation and trial of this suspect.'

Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain said terror attacks are 'acts of war' and perpetrators should be considered 'enemy combatants'

South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham advocates for holding suspected terrorists without giving them Miranda rights, including the right to have an attorney

South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham also suggested grilling terror attackers without giving them the right to remain silent or an attorney.

Graham recommended on the Fox News Channel that authorities 'Hold them for a long period of time, get to know them, interrogate them about what they know, where they got trained – if any training.'

'And we'll find out pretty soon more about this guy if you don't read him his Miranda rights,' he continued, 'because that stops the interrogation.'

The president does not have the authority to unilaterally end the lottery program that was implemented by Congress in 1990.

He has endorsed Senate legislation that would replace it with a merit-based program, but it is not guaranteed to pass even if it comes to the floor for a vote.

The White House could order the State Department to reduce the maximum number of lottery visas awarded annually from 50,000 to as few as zero.

'The "diversity lottery" – sounds nice. It's not nice. It's not good,' Trump told reporters.

'We want a merit-based program' for immigration, Trump said, 'where people come into our country based on merit.'

'And we do not want chain migration, where ultimately someone like him will be allowed to bring in many, many members of his family,' Trump said.

America's heavily fortified Guantanamo Bay prison camp, situated on leased land in Cuba, has been the home of suspected jihadi terrorists for decades

There are only 41 prisoners left at 'Gitmo,' down from 242 when Barack Obama took office in 2009

Trump suggested that Americans were 'suckers' for supporting a system that allowed lax oversight of people allowed to fast-track their visa applications on the basis of a randomly drawn number.

'We want people that are going to keep our country safe. We don't want lotteries, where the wrong people are in the lotteries,' he said.

'And guess what? Who are the suckers that get those people.'

The president also complained about 'being stopped by Democrats' as he attempts to 'get rid of this lottery program.'

'We're going to stop that,' the president insisted.

Saipov was seen on video running through a lower Manhattan street as he yelled 'Allahu akbar,' just after mowing down eight people with a rented pickup truck.

Trump suggested on Wednesday that Americans were 'suckers' for supporting a system that allowed lax oversight of people allowed to fast-track their visa applications on the basis of a randomly drawn number

Trump has vowed to reverse the previous administration's course on closing Guantanamo, which was one of former president Barack Obama's earliest campaign promises – and one he never fulfilled.

Obama largely emptied out 'Gitmo,' as the terror-detention hellhole is known, reducing its population from 242 to just 41.

The prison camp has been the site of infamous torture techniques including waterboarding – which the president supported during his White House campaign.

'Terrorists are constantly seeking to strike our nation and it will require the unflinching devotion to our law enforcement, homeland security and intelligence professionals to keep America safe,' Trump said Wednesday

'We have to get much tougher and we have to get much smarter,' he added. 'And we have to get much less politically correct. We’re so politically correct that we’re afraid to do anything.'