Former Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn says he's trying to get Donald Trump to "be more precise" in his foreign policy comments — but defends Trump's hard-line stances as those of a global businessman.
In an interview with
Al Jazeera English's "UpFront" program, Flynn explained his
role as an informal adviser to the presumptive GOP nominee.
"First of all, I don't agree with everything that he said. But he's an individual who's willing to take on a challenge," tells host Mehdi Hasan. "The other aspect is there must be more precision in the use of the language that he uses as the potential leader of the free world."
"There has to be more precision, and those are the types of pieces of advice that I'm trying to get into him to say [to] be more precise, be more conscious about what you say about foreign policy issues because they are complicated."
But when asked if he supports Trump's proposal to kill the families of suspected terrorists, Flynn demurs, saying "I would have to see the circumstances of that situation," adding, "These are very difficult political decisions."
"We won't see orders like that because he won't give orders like that," Flynn added. "The other part about Donald Trump is — I think what he's got a very good instinct on is the people that he chooses to have around him and allows to have this kind of debate to be able to come to the right decision."
He refused, however, to condemn Trump's proposal to ban Muslims from entering the United States.
"What I support . . . is that we must understand where these individuals are coming from … vetting of individuals and the proper screening of individuals who are coming from certain parts of the world like Syria."
Flynn argues Trump sees the world from the perspective of a businessman, saying his strategy is to "start really, really high and really, really hard."
"And then, be prepared to get down to where you think you can actually negotiate," he said.
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