Trump: US Must Respond To Orlando 'With Force'

 The presumptive Republican presidential nominee renews his controversial call for a ban on foreign-born Muslims entering the US.

Donald Trump has said the United States must respond to the Orlando massacre "with force" - and he accused the Obama administration of holding back law enforcement.

The presumptive Republican presidential nominee also doubled down on his call for a temporary ban on foreign-born Muslims entering the US.


"We need to respond to this attack on America as one, united people - with force, purpose and determination," Mr Trump said in prepared remarks a day after the deadliest attack on US soil since 9/11.

"We cannot afford to talk around issues, we have to address these issues head on."



Mr Trump accused the Obama administration and Hillary Clinton of being in "total denial", and said the US needs to "tell the truth about how radical Islam is coming to our shores".

Mrs Clinton, meanwhile, used her first public address in the wake of the nightclub shooting to call on Americans to "get back to the spirit of 9/12".

She noted that then-Republican President George W Bush travelled to a Muslim community centre in the days after 9/11 and told Americans that any retribution against Muslim Americans would not stand.



The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, who said "today is not a day for politics", also used her address to reiterate her call for a ban on assault weapons.

"I believe weapons of war have no place on our streets," Mrs Clinton said.
Mr Trump accused his presidential rival of wanting to "take away Americans' guns and then admit the very people who want to slaughter us".

The billionaire called for an overhaul of the nation's immigration system, saying if elected in November he would implement a "mainstream immigration policy that promotes American values".

"Immigration is a privilege and we should not let anyone into this country who doesn't support our communities," he said.

Mr Trump also said he wanted to form a partnership with America's Muslim communities.
"I want every American to succeed, including Muslims," he said.

Mr Trump also accused the Obama administration of imposing restrictions on national intelligence officers that he said keeps them from doing their jobs.



Earlier, FBI Director James Comey told reporters that Orlando nightclub gunman Omar Mateen had been interviewed twice by agents since 2012, but the US-born man of Afghan descent was never directly linked to terrorist activities or plots.

Mr Comey said his agency would review its work, but at this point he did not see anything that agents should have done differently.
 
"Our work is very challenging," he said. "We are looking for needles in a nationwide haystack, but we're also called upon to figure out which pieces of hay might someday become needles."




Mr Obama told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday the attack appeared to be an example of "homegrown extremism" and that "at this stage, we see no clear evidence that (Mateen) was directed externally".