--- title: Donald Trump Calls for Strict Borders After Brussels Attack description: Republican Donald Trump repeated his argument that the U.S. must be more vigilant with its border security after attacks in Brussels canonical: https://time.com/4267390/donald-trump-responds-brussels-attack/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-03-22T12:41:42.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-13T15:50:03.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: Donald Trump Calls for Stricter U.S. Borders After Brussels Attack og:description: Trump: authorities should "do a lot more than waterboarding" to get information og:url: https://time.com/4267390/donald-trump-responds-brussels-attack/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4c58b4f43180598a/69888bf9ab6d7706c16a8f0f/gettyimages-516871656.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3300 og:image:height: 1856 og:image:alt: Presidential Candidates Speak At The AIPAC Policy Conference og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Donald Trump Calls for Stricter U.S. Borders After Brussels Attack twitter:description: Trump: authorities should "do a lot more than waterboarding" to get information twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4c58b4f43180598a/69888bf9ab6d7706c16a8f0f/gettyimages-516871656.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Donald Trump Calls for Stricter U.S. Borders After Brussels Attack > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=a23c1846-1581-4b9e-9333-8f3a26fb3628&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Know Right Now: At Least Six People Linked To Brussels Attacks Detained [Watch (HLS stream): Know Right Now: At Least Six People Linked To Brussels Attacks Detained](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/fxFDCArz.m3u8) (1:01)  _Published 2016-03-22_  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Updated: Dec 13, 2023 3:50 PM UTCPublished: Mar 22, 2016 12:41 PM UTC  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Updated: Dec 13, 2023 3:50 PM UTCPublished: Mar 22, 2016 12:41 PM UTC Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump responded to [Tuesday’s attacks in Brussels](http://time.com/4267343/brussels-attacks-isis-analysis/?xid=homepage) by repeating his argument that the U.S. must be more vigilant with its border security. “I would be very, very tough on the borders, and I would not be allowing certain people to come into this country without absolute perfect documentation,” Trump said in an [interview with the _Today_ show](http://www.today.com/video/donald-trump-waterboarding-would-be-fine-to-interrogate-terror-suspect-649868867713), when asked how he would handle this situation as president. “I would exclude the people coming in from Syria that don’t have documentation coming in from the migration line,” he said. “I would certainly exclude those people from coming in. The assimilation has been a disaster.” Trump made similar statements in the wake of the Paris attacks by Islamic extremists in November, when he called for [increased surveillance of American Muslims](http://time.com/4120711/donald-trump-paris-attack-muslims/) and proposed a [ban on Muslims](http://time.com/4140717/donald-trump-muslim-ban-morning-joe-how-it-would-work/) entering the country. “Brussels is a total mess, and I’m not talking about the attack today. I’m talking about generally speaking,” he said, adding that police lack control in the city. Trump also said authorities should be using any means necessary to get information from Salah Abdeslam, the sole surviving alleged perpetrator of November’s Paris attacks, [who was captured last Friday](http://time.com/4265312/paris-attacks-salah-abdeslam-how-he-was-caught/). “They should be able to do whatever they have to do to get him to give the information,” he said. “Waterboarding would be fine.” During the interview, Trump said he thinks torture is an effective way of obtaining information. “If they could expand the laws, I would do a lot more than water boarding,” he said. “You have to get the information from these people.” ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] We have developed all our security forces. So hopefully we can try and control the situation as much as possible. 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