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'Shut our borders': Donald Trump calls for the surveillance of Muslims on US soil and advocates waterboarding terror suspects after Brussels attack

By Chris Spargo For Dailymail.com11:30 22 Mar 2016, updated 17:09 22 Mar 2016

Donald Trump commented on the attack in Brussels which killed at least 34 individuals and ISIS has claimed responsibility for on Tuesday
Trump said in that interview on Fox & Friends that the US needs to 'shut the borders' and stop allowing Muslim refugees into the country
He advocated the use of waterboarding on terrorist suspects, saying he would go further if the laws allowed him
Trump said Paris terror suspect Salah Abdeslam probably knew about the attack Tuesday and that had he been tortured it could have been stopped
He also called into FBN's Mornings with Maria Bartiromo saying that the US must have surveillance of Muslims in this country, particularly at mosques
Hours after this comment, Ted Cruz said that law enforcement should be allowed to patrol and monitor Muslim neighborhoods in the US
Hillary Clinton called Today after declining an interview during Trump's press push and criticized him, saying; 'We don't need to resort to torture'
See more of the latest news and updates on the Brussels bombings

Donald Trump commented on the suicide bombings that occurred in Brussels Tuesday morning just hours after the brutal terror attacks.

'Do you all remember how beautiful and safe a place Brussels was. Not anymore, it is from a different world! U.S. must be vigilant and smart!' wrote the Republican front-runner on Twitter.

Trump then said in an interview on Fox News the US needs to 'shut the borders,' a statement he repeated later in the morning while appearing on Today.

In that appearance he also told Matt Lauer he is a firm believer in using torture to get information from people behind attacks like the one in Brussels, stating; 'Waterboarding is fine.'

Hillary Clinton called into Today as well two hours after Lauer said she declined an interview and criticized Trump's comment, saying; 'We don't need to resort to torture.'

Trump also called into Mornings with Maria Bartiromo saying that the US must have surveillance of Muslims in this country, particularly at mosques.

The series of bombings in the Belgian capital - which occurred near the American Airlines terminal in the city's airport and at a Metro station close to the headquarters of the European Union - have claimed the lives of at least 34 individuals.

ISIS has since claimed responsibility for the attacks in a statement released through their Amaq news agency.

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Comments: Donald Trump (above on Monday) advocated the use of waterboarding on terrorist suspects and surveillance of Muslims in the US after the Brussels terror attacks on Tuesday morning

Tweet: 'Do you all remember how beautiful and safe a place Brussels was. Not anymore, it is from a different world!' wrote Trump on Twitter

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Trump called in to Fox & Friends to discuss what he would do as president if an attack like this ever happened on American soil.

'Well I think I've said it. I would close up our borders until we figure out what is going on,' said Trump.

'Look at Brussels, look at Paris, look at so many cities that were great cities. Paris is almost as bad. Paris is no longer the City of Lights, Paris has a lot of problems. All you have to do is speak to the people who live there where the same thing has happened and they are in fear. The city is in fear.

'And we have to be smart in the United States.'

He then began to speak about immigrants, saying that in the US we are currently 'taking in people without any real documentation.'

Trump continued; 'We don't know where they're from, who they are. They could be ISIS. They could be ISIS related. We just don't learn.'

He also said Brussels is now a 'disaster' but used to be a 'crime-free city.'

Trump previously called Brussels a 'hellhole' in January when asked about the city during a Fox Business interview.

The New York Times reached out to Mayor Yvan Mayeur in the wake of that comment, who told the paper; 'We don't react to Mr. Trump's comments. Have a nice day.'

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Trump also made an appearance on Today Tuesday morning, where he spoke more about the attack and what he would do if he was in office for a catastrophic event like the one that happened in Brussels.

Matt Lauer asked Trump what he would do if elected president had this attack happened in the United States.

'Well first of all this is a subject that is very dear and near to my heart because I have certainly been talking about it much more than anybody else, it's why I'm probably number one in the polls because I say we have to have strong borders,' said Trump.

'We have to be very vigilant and careful who we let into our country. I know Brussels well and Brussels is a total mess, and I'm not talking about the attack today.

'I'm talking about, generally speaking, it is a city that used to be one of the finest, one of the most beautiful cities in the world, and now its a catastrophic and very dangerous city where the police have very little control.'

At this point Lauer cut Trump off and again repeated his initial question to see if the Republican front-runner had a different response from the comments he had previously stated and one that was more concrete as to what he would do as president.

'Well as president I would do probably what I would have been doing since the time I was president,' explained Trump in a garbled reply.

'I would be very tough on borders and I would be not allowing certain people to come into this country without absolute perfect documentation.

'We're allowing thousands of people already to come into this country who don't have proper documentation. We don't know where they're coming from.

'They happen to be in the migration. They happen to come in from perhaps Syria, but nobody really knows.

'Nobody knows because they don't have the documentation.'

This time around it was Lauer's co-host Savannah Guthrie who interrupted Trump to once again ask if he had a response that gave examples as to what he would do as president.

'I would exclude the people from Syria who do not have documentation coming in from the migration line that interestingly have cell phones,' said Trump.

'In many cases they get the cell phones and where do they get their bills? I would certainly exclude those people from coming in.'

He then added; 'The assimilation has been a disaster.'

Lauer and Guthrie then switched gears to ask Trump about Paris terror suspect Salah Abdeslam, who is in currently in custody in Brussels.

Trump was asked to weigh in on how far law enforcement and members of the military should be able to go to get information from the man, who is believed to have rented the cars used to take the terrorists to the Stade de France soccer stadium and Bataclan theater last November, also driving one of the vehicles that night.

'Well I would say they should be able to do whatever they have to do to get the information and i would say...'

The co-hosts then cut Trump off asking for specifics.

'Waterboarding - if it was up to me and we changed the laws - would be fine.'

He then added; 'If they could expand the laws I would do a lot more than waterboarding. You have to get the information from these people we have to be smart and we have to be tough and we cant be soft and weak which is what we are now.

He was then asked if he was in the camp that torture works, to which he replied; 'Yes I am.'

When Guthrie and Lauer pointed out that Abdeslam was in the custody of Belgian law enforcement and not the military to perhaps get him to modify his answer, Trump said; 'Let the military take him over.'

He closed out the interview by saying about the US; 'We are allowing thousands and thousands of these people into this country and we're going to have nothing but problems.'

Response: Hillary Clinton (above on Monday) called Today after declining an interview during Trump's press push and criticized him, saying; 'We don't need to resort to torture'

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Clinton called in to Today as well over an hour later, saying; 'The idea that the terrorists are continuing to strike at the heart of Europe is deeply distressing.'

She also told Lauer and Guthrie; 'We've got to stand in solidarity with our European allies as they have stood with us on so many occasions.'

When asked how the US should handle this situation or one similar Clinton advocated a 'smart and steady' response.

Clinton was also asked about the effectiveness of closing borders, both in Europe and the United States, to which she replied; 'We do have to be realistic about how people move from place to place. It's unrealistic to say we're going to completely shut down our borders.'

Trump's third phone interview of the day was with Fox Business Network's Mornings with Maria Bartiromo, where he took time to criticize President Obama and Mayor Bill de Blasio while calling for more surveillance in this country.

'President Obama is taking in thousands of people and distributing them all over the United States. We don't know how many and we don't know where they are going. And these are people that have no documentation.

'They have no anything. Nobody know anything about these people we are bringing into our country and it's going to lead to catastrophic problems.'

Trump also said that Germany is doing 'very poorly' after their decision to allow Syrian refugees into the country.

'I have friends in Germany and they want to leave. They say what's happening in the streets is from a different world.

He added that he has 'lost all respect' for Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Trump then turned the conversation back to the United States, and a halt on allowing Muslim refugees into the country.

'It's time to stop, and frankly we're having problems with the Muslims coming into the country,' said Trump, who used as an example the terror attack in San Bernardino, California last December where Muslim husband and wife Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik killed 14 of their coworkers.

He then called for the monitoring of Muslims in the United States, saying; 'We need surveillance. You need to deal with the mosques, whether you like it or not. We have to be smart, we have to be vigilant.

'I mean these attacks aren't done by Swedish people. We have to be smart. We have to be vigilant. We have to watch very closely whats going on.'

Trump attacked Mayor de Blasio later in the program for shuttering a NYPD unit that was devoted to the surveillance of Muslim communities in the city.

'We have to study what's going on,' said Trump.

'They were getting great information from what people were saying. They were stopping attacks.'

This is why Trump said de Blasio is 'frankly a mayor who doesn't know what he is doing' and 'doing a terrible job according to everybody.'

Devastation: The scene at the Brussels Metro station near the European headquarters where at least 13 people were killed and dozens more injured in a suicide bombing

Horror: The American Airlines check-in counter at Brussels Airport where two suicide bombs went off Tuesday morning

Fear: A man with blood on his shirt is evacuated from Brussels Airport shortly after the bombings on Tuesday

Trump and Clinton were not done either, with both presidential candidates calling in to Good Morning America as well which ran an extended broadcast instead of airing Live With Kelly and Michael and Rachel Ray.

Trump once again advocated the use of torture, and said that had it been used on Paris suspect Abdeslam the attacks in Brussels could have possibly been prevented.

'He probably knew these attacks were going to occur,' said Trump.

'If we had techniques that were strong and the way we should have ... you know, we play by the rules they don't play by the rules.

'If they're not going to play by the rules and we're going to play by the rules we're not going to have too many victories.

'We could have probably cut this off if they had the right technique and used the right technique on him.

'Instead he's sitting in a jail, probably has 15 lawyers around him telling him "don't speak, don't speak, don't talk' and that's the way the world is being run right now. It's certainly the way our country is being run.'

Trump also said about ISIS; 'You've got to take them out.

'And you've got to get the people, the surrounding states, you've got to get them to put up the manpower because that's what it's going to take.

'We have a lot of people in our country right now that probably and definitely have the same feelings and the same feeling of hate as the people in Brussels.'

Trump once again spoke about conditions in Brussels, saying; 'It's like an armed camp. Anybody that goes there will tell you it's like an armed camp.'

Clinton meanwhile said in her interview the country needed to 'strengthen our resolve' and up 'security operations in our country.'

She also said of Trump's calls for waterboarding; 'That is just another one of his claims that doesn't bear up.'

Republican hopeful Ted Cruz also commented on the attacks Tuesday, saying; 'Our hearts break for the men and women of Brussels this morning.

'Make no mistake - these terror attacks are no isolated incidents. They are just the latest in a string of coordinated attacks by radical Islamic terrorists perpetrated by those who are waging war against all who do not accept their extreme strain of Islam.'

He then began to attack President Obama, saying; 'Radical Islam is at war with us. For over seven years we have had a president who refuses to acknowledge this reality.

'And the truth is, we can never hope to defeat this evil so long as we refuse to even name it. That ends on January 20, 2017, when I am sworn in as president.

'We will name our enemy - radical Islamic terrorism. And we will defeat it.'

Cruz also held a press conference in Washington DC to comment on the attacks after not appearing on any of the morning news programs.

'Today’s attacks in Brussels underscores this is a war, 'said Cruz.

'This is not a lone war. ISIS has declared jihad.'

He then, once again, attacked President Obama, saying; 'It is way past time we have a president who will acknowledge this evil and will call it by its name and use the full force and fury to defeat ISIS.

'Until they are defeated, these attacks will continue. Their target is each and every one of us.

'We need a president who sets aside political correctness. We don’t need another lecture about Islamophobia.'

Cruz also went after Trump for his comments made just one day prior that the US contributes too much money to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which is headquartered in Brussels.

'Donald Trump is wrong that America should retreat from Europe, retreat from NATO, hand Putin a major victory and while he’s at it, hand ISIS a major victory, ' said Cruz.

'It is striking the day after Donald Trump called for America weakening NATO, withdrawing from NATO, we see Brussels - where NATO is headquartered - the subject of a radical Islamic terrorist attack.'

Cruz, like Trump, also advocated for the monitoring of Muslims in the United States, saying; 'We need to immediately halt the flow of refugees from countries with a significant al Qaida or ISIS presence.

'We need to empower law enforcement to patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods before they become radicalized.

'We need to secure the southern border to prevent terrorist infiltration.'

Speech: President Obama spoke about the attacks during an appearance in Cuba Tuesday morning, saying; 'We stand in solidarity with them in condemning these outrageous attacks against innocent people'

Response: Trump commented on Obama's speech as soon as the president finished with his remarks

Presser: Ted Cruz held a press conference following the attacks during which he repeatedly attacked President Obama

President Obama spoke about the attacks during an appearance in Cuba Tuesday morning, where he is on a trip with his wife Michelle and daughters Malia and Sasha.

'We stand in solidarity with them in condemning these outrageous attacks against innocent people,' said Obama.

'This is yet another reminder that the world must unite, we must be together, regardless of nationality or race or faith in fighting against the scourge of terrorism.

'We can and we will defeat those who threaten the safety and security of people around the world.'

Trump wrote on Twitter shortly after Obama's speech; 'President Obama looks and sounds so ridiculous making his speech in Cuba, especially in the shadows of Brussels. He is being treated badly!'

Prior to Obama's speech, Republican hopeful John Kasich called in to Fox News and said the president should end his trip and return to Washington DC.

'What I hope he will say is he's leaving Cuba and heading back to the White House,' said Kasich.

'He’s gonna begin to organize meetings with the leaders around the world and at the same time get himself in the position of where we can send teams of people immediately to Europe to begin to dig in terms of what we need to do to address the vulnerabilities we have.'

He also released a statement saying; 'Along with every American, I am sickened by the pictures of the carnage, by the injuries and by the loss of life.

'The wave of terror that has been unleashed in Europe and elsewhere around the world are attacks against our very way of life and against the democratic values upon which our political systems have been built.

'We and our allies must rededicate ourselves to these values of freedom and human rights. We must utterly reject the use of deadly acts of terror.

'We must also redouble our efforts with our allies to identify, root out and destroy the perpetrators of such acts of evil.

'We must strengthen our alliances as our way of life and the international system that has been built on our common values since the end of the Second World War comes under challenge from these and other actors of evil.'