WASHINGTON, Nov 23 â US president-elect Donald Trump said today that advice from a Marine general renowned for his frank talk had convinced him to think again about authorising the torture of detainees.
The Republican tycoon had previously made bloodcurdling pledges to restore waterboarding and âfar, far worseâ in US detention centres, scorning President Barack Obamaâs ban on the practice.
But last weekend Trump sat down with James Mattis, a retired general respected across Washington and the US military for his no-nonsense approach, to discuss naming him defence secretary.
Yesterday, in an interview with the New York Times, Trump said heâd been surprised to discover that such an uncompromising commander was opposed to allowing US personnel to torture suspects.
âHe said: âIâve never found it to be usefulâ,â he said, adding that Mattis advised building a rapport with detainees: âGive me a pack of cigarettes and a couple of beers and Iâll do better.â
âI was very impressed by that answer,â Trump told the Times, in a marked U-turn from his campaign mantra: âTorture works, OK? Believe me, it works.â
- See more at:
Tough general convinces Trump to backtrack on torture
Looks like you Trumpbots finally got John McCain elected. lol
I was jusssst logging on here to see if someone had started the list.
Maybe I'll edit this from Politico and make it my sig line:
***15 Flip Flops in 15 Days
15 Trump Flip-Flops in 15 Days
On his predecessor:
âI think president Obama has been the most ignorant president in our historyâŚPresident Obama when he became president, he didn't know anything. This guy didnât know a thing. And honestly, today he knows less. Today, he knows less. He has done a terrible job.â (
Press conference in Florida, July 27, 2016)
âI have great respectâŚI very much look forward to dealing with the President in the future, including counsel. He explained some of the difficulties, some of the high-flying assets and some of the really great things that have been achieved.â (
White House, November 10, 2016)
On anti-Trump protesters:
âJust had a very open and successful presidential election. Now professional protesters, incited by the media, are protesting. Very unfair!â (
Twitter, November 10, 2016, 9:19pm ET)
âLove the fact that the small groups of protesters last night have passion for our great country. We will all come together and be proud!â (
Twitter, November 11, 2016, 6:14am ET)
On Obamacare:
âItâs gotta go.â (
CNN, July 30, 2015)
âI like those [the prohibition against insurers denying coverage because of patientsâ existing conditions and a provision that allows parents to provide years of additional coverage for children on their insurance policies] very much.â (
Wall Street Journal, November 11, 2016)
On the border wall:
âJeb Bush just talked about my border proposal to build a "fence." It's not a fence, Jeb, it's a WALL, and there's a BIG difference!â (
Twitter, August 25, 2015)
âThere could be some fencing.â (
60 Minutes, November 13, 2016)
On gay marriage:
âIf Iâm elected, I would be very strong on putting certain judges on the bench that I think maybe could change thingsâŚI donât like the way they ruledâŚI would strongly consider [trying to appoint justices to overrule the decision on same-sex marriage].â (
Fox News Sunday, January 31, 2016)
âItâs irrelevant because it was already settled. Itâs law. It was settled in the Supreme Court. I mean itâs doneâŚAnd Iâm fine with that.â (
60 Minutes, November 13, 2016)
On locking her up:
âIf I win, I am going to instruct my attorney general to get a special prosecutor to look into your situation. There has never been so many lies, so much exception. There has never been anything like it. We will have a special prosecutor. I go out and speak and the people of this country are furious. The long time workers at the FBI are furious. There has never been anything like this with emails. You get a subpoena and after getting the subpoena you delete 33,000 emails and acid wash them or bleach them. An expensive process. We will get a special prosecutor and look into it. You know what, people have beenâtheir lives have been destroyed for doing one-fifth of what you have done. You should be ashamed.â (
Second Presidential Debate, October 9, 2016)
âI donât want to hurt the Clintons, I really donâtâŚItâs just not something that I feel very strongly about.â (
New York Times, November 22, 2016)
On deporting illegal immigrants:
âWe have at least 11 million people in this country that came in illegally. They will go out.â (
CNN-Republican Debate, February 25, 2016)
âWhat we are going to do is get the people that are criminal and have criminal records, gang members, drug dealers, we have a lot of these people, probably two million, it could be even three million, we are getting them out of our country or we are going to incarcerate.â (
60 Minutes, November 13, 2016)
On the generals:
âWell the generals under Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have not been very successful.â (
Commander-in-Chief Forum, September 7, 2016)
âWe have some great generals. We have great generals.â (
60 Minutes, November 13, 2016)
"Well, Iâll be honest with you, I probably do [know more about ISIS than the generals do] because look at the job theyâve done. Okay? Look at the job theyâve done. They havenât done the job.â (
60 Minutes, less than a minute later)
On nuclear Japan:
âWell I think maybe itâs not so bad to have Japan â if Japan had that nuclear threat, Iâm not sure that would be a bad thing for us.â (
New York Times, March 26, 2016)
âThe @nytimes states today that DJT believes "more countries should acquire nuclear weapons." How dishonest are they. I never said this!â (
Twitter, November 13, 2016)
On the Electoral College:
âThe electoral college is a disaster for democracy.â (
Twitter, November 06, 2012)
âThe Electoral College is actually genius in that it brings all states, including the smaller ones, into play. Campaigning is much different!â (
Twitter, November 15, 2016)
âI'd rather do the popular vote.â Says he was "never a fan of the electoral college." (
New York Times, November 22, 2016)
On the Trump University lawsuit:
âTrump University has a 98% approval rating. I could have settled but won't out of principle!â (
Twitter, February 29, 2016)
âI don't settle casesâŚI wonât settle because itâs an easy case to win in court.â (
Morning Joe, March 3, 2016)
âI settled the Trump University lawsuit for a small fraction of the potential award because as President I have to focus on our countryâ (
Twitter, November 19, 2016)
On man-made climate change:
âI am not a great believer in man-made climate change.â (
Washington Post, March 21, 2016)
âI think there is some connectivity. Some, something.â (
New York Times, November 22, 2016)
On the Paris climate agreement:
âWeâre going to cancel the Paris Climate Agreementâ (
Policy address in North Dakota, May 26, 2016)
âI have an open mind to it." (
New York Times, November 22, 2016)
On torture:
âTorture works. OK, folks? You know, I have these guysââTorture doesnât work!ââbelieve me, it works. And waterboarding is your minor form. Some people say itâs not actually torture. Letâs assume it is. But they asked me the question: What do you think of waterboarding? Absolutely fine. But we should go much stronger than waterboarding.â (
South Carolina, February 17, 2016)
â[Mattis] said, âIâve never found it to be usefulâŚGive me a pack of cigarettes and a couple of beers and Iâll do better.ââŚI was very impressed by that answer⌠[Torture is] not going to make the kind of a difference that a lot of people are thinking.ââ (
New York Times, November 22, 2016)
On the New York Times:
"Wow, the @nytimes is losing thousands of subscribers because of their very poor and highly inaccurate coverage of the 'Trump phenomena.'" (
Twitter, November 13, 2016)
âI have great respect for the New York Times. I have tremendous respectâŚThe New York Times is a world jewel. And I hope we can all get along." (
New York Times, November 22, 2016)