Key Points
- Donald Trump has railed against migrants in a speech to conservative activists.
- He also claimed that the Hamas-Israel war and Russia's war on Ukraine would not have happened under his presidency.
- Trump cruised to victory in the South Carolina primary with the support of an almost unwavering base of loyal voters.
Describing himself as a "political dissident", Donald Trump has railed against migrants in a speech to conservative activists, vowing to conduct the "largest deportation in the history" of the United States if he wins the November election.
"By the time (US President Joe Biden) gets out of office, we'll have 18 million people in my opinion, in our country that shouldn’t be here," Trump told the Conservative Political Action Conference at National Harbor, Maryland, referring to migrants.
"They do come from prisons and mental institutions. And they are terrorists. And we’re going to be paying a price. And it’s going to be the largest deportation in the history of our country. And we have no choice.
"And it’s not a nice thing to say and I hate to say it, and those clowns in the media will say, 'He's so mean'. No, no, they’re killing our people. They're killing our country. They're killing our people. We have no choice."
It's not the first time Trump has made such comments. "to stop the invasion of our southern border and begin the largest domestic deportation operation in American history."
Sunday's comments were made just before Trump won the Republican presidential primary in South Carolina, beating former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley in her home state and further consolidating his path to a third straight nomination.
Trump cruised to victory in the South Carolina primary with the support of an almost unwavering base of loyal voters.
In the 90-minute speech to the conservative gathering before flying to South Carolina to a vote count watch party, Trump claimed that the Hamas-Israel war and Russia's war on Ukraine would not have happened under his presidency.
He also called himself a dissident, and , including his skyscrapers, if he is unable to find the cash to pay off a $543 million fine from his fraud trial.
"I stand before you today not only as your past and hopefully future president, but as a proud political dissident. I am a dissident."
With a massive lead in national opinion polls, Trump could effectively clinch the nomination by mid-March if he wins primaries at the same pace - just in time for his first criminal trial, which is scheduled to begin on 25 March in New York City.
He is charged in that case with falsifying business records to conceal hush money payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels.
- with Reuters
