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Trump Doubts Possible Israel, UK Trips Will Register with Voters

Donald Trump is sending mixed signals about a possible trip overseas to beef up his foreign policy credentials ahead of the general election.

It would not be a good idea “at this moment,” Trump said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal published on Monday. “I don’t think it registers with the voters to be honest with you. What I really want to do is focus on our country and the election, but I might. I’ve been invited by numerous countries to go.”

Trump canceled a planned trip to Israel last December after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent out a statement rejecting his comments about banning Muslims entry to the United States. The presumptive Republican presidential nominee recently hinted that he’s planning to travel to Israel and to the United kingdom in the coming months. “I will be coming (to Israel) soon,” Trump told Israel Hayom last month.

The Guardian reported on Friday that Jewish Republicans are laying the groundwork for a trip to Israel in the coming weeks. The report quoted sources close to Adelson that the megadonor, who pledged to spend more than $100 million for Trump’s election, has touted the merits of a Trump trip to Israel. Mort Klein, president of the Zionist Organization of America and a close friend to Adelson, told the Guardian that Trump’s Israel advisor Jason Greenblatt informed him several weeks ago that Trump was “going to go there [Israel] before the [GOP] convention.”

On Friday, Trump said he had received an invitation to meet with British Prime Minister David Cameron in 10 Downing Street. Cameron said on Sunday he would be prepared to meet Trump, but kept up his criticism of  his proposed ban on Muslims entering the United StatesIn December Cameron called Trump, potentially the next leader of Britain’s closest ally, “divisive, stupid and wrong” for calling for the ban. Trump fired back, saying he would probably not have a good relationship with Cameron. “American presidential candidates have made a habit of coming through the UK, and so if that happens I’d be very happy to (meet Trump),” Cameron told ITV’s “Peston on Sunday” show.

In the Wall Street Journal interview, Trump  suggested that Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presidential candidate, is “incompetent” and “knows nothing about national security.

“She is grossly incompetent when it comes to national security. And ISIS sits back and laughs at her,” he said.

Trump also dismissed Clinton’s assessment of his temperament. “She likes to equate toughness with temperament and she thinks she’s gonna scare people,” he said. “Well, we need to have a tough tone.”

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