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Trump Challenges Clinton’s Credentials amid Report he Used Charity Funds to Pay Legal Settlements | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump speaks at a rally with supporters at High Point University in High Point, North Carolina, U.S. September 20, 2016. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst


Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton consulted national security advisers on Tuesday after weekend bomb blasts renewed fears of domestic attacks, as Republican Donald Trump accused her of pushing policies that made the U.S. less safe, saying she is “the chief emissary for globalism.”

The domestic security issue returned to the forefront after a New York City bomb injured 29 people, a pipe bomb went off and unexploded bombs turned up in separate incidents in New Jersey, and a man stabbed 10 people at a Minnesota mall.

Clinton spoke by phone with former Defense Department official Michele Flournoy, former CIA deputy head Mike Morell and other advisers, her campaign said in an email.

“We can’t lose our cool and start ranting and waving our arms,” Clinton said on the call, according to her campaign in an apparent reference to Trump. “We shouldn’t toss around extreme proposals that won’t be effective and lose sight of who we are. That’s what the terrorists are aiming for.”

Clinton has called for better intelligence, new efforts to counter online recruiting of militants and smashing ISIS strongholds in the Middle East.

She has said Trump’s rhetoric against terrorism is helping ISIS recruit more fighters.

At a rally in battleground North Carolina, Trump countered by saying that Clinton, as Democratic President Barack Obama’s first secretary of state from 2009 to 2013, backed policies that made the U.S. less safe.

“I’m much tougher than her on this horrible situation, but she goes around saying it’s a recruiting tool,” Trump said.

The New York businessman accused Clinton of supporting policies in Iraq and Syria that he said allowed ISIS to take root.

He also accused the former Secretary of State of caring more about so-called special interests than what’s best for the country.

“I’m not running to be president of the world, I’m running to be president of the United States,” he said. “Clinton is the vessel for all of the global, special interests seeking to run our government and our lives.”

The two rivals in the Nov. 8 election have been vying to portray themselves as the best equipped to protect the nation.

Meanwhile, The Washington Post reported Tuesday that Trump used funds from his charitable foundation to pay settlements in legal cases involving his businesses, an apparent violation of laws governing non-profits.

The cases involved a combined $258,000 paid out by the Donald J. Trump Foundation — a charity almost entirely funded with other people’s money, the newspaper said — and follow a review of legal documents and the foundation’s tax records.

The newspaper carried out a weekslong investigation into the charity’s finances, finding that Trump himself has not contributed a dollar since 2009. The group is funded by donations from third parties instead.