Trump

Donald Trump could be your next Commander-in-Chief. Here’s how he wants to keep America “safe.”

Time to start imagining President Trump in the Situation Room.

As a businessman-turned-reality show personality, Donald Trump is a foreign policy novice—but he’s a foreign policy novice who could be our next Commander-in-Chief.

Now that he’s the Republican Party’s presumptive nominee for president, it’s time to start considering what it would mean if Trump—a candidate who admits he gets his military advice from “the shows,” says he learns about foreign policy from “various newspapers,” and claims running the Miss Universe pageant as foreign policy experience—became Commander-in-Chief.

Here are seven of his “best” (read: worst) ideas for how to keep our country safe.

Bring back torture

“By the way, torture works,” Trump told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer in response to the terrorist attacks in Brussels. And he wouldn’t just bring back waterboarding, one of the worst legacies of the Bush administration. He says he would “absolutely” go further.

Ban Muslims from entering the United States — or potentially create a database to track them

Trump has called for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States. And when asked if his ban would include Muslim Americans—United States citizens—who are currently out of the country, Trump’s spokesperson responded, “Everyone.”

Not only that, but Trump has also toyed with creating a database to track Muslims in the United States and shrugged off comparisons to Nazi registries of Jews or World War II–era internment camps in the United States—one of the darkest parts of our country’s history. “What I’m doing is no different than what FDR [did],” he said. “FDR’s solution for Germans, Italians, Japanese, you know, many years ago.”

Send thousands of U.S. ground troops to fight ISIS

After 15 years of conflict in Afghanistan and Iraq, most U.S. foreign policy experts agree that it would be a serious mistake for us to stumble into another costly ground war in the Middle East—local forces should be responsible for securing their communities instead, with the U.S. supporting them. But Trump has said he would send in 10,000 U.S. ground troops to fight ISIS. “I’d knock out the capital and I’d knock it out big and strong,” he said.

Trump says he doesn’t need to listen to our generals or admirals because he has “a very good brain.” So good, in fact, he says “I know more about ISIS than the generals do, believe me.”

Do you believe him?

Kill terrorists' families

Here’s the other part of Trump’s “plan” to defeat ISIS: “You have to take out their families. When you get these terrorists, you have to take out their families. They care about their lives, don’t kid yourself. When they say they don’t care about their lives, you have to take out their families.”

This is a violation of international law—but Trump says he’d do it anyway. Asked what he would do if the military refused to obey his illegal orders, Trump responded, “They’re not going to refuse me. Believe me.”

Allow more nuclear weapons in the world

It’s been U.S. policy for decades to prevent more countries from obtaining nuclear weapons and reduce the number of nuclear weapons worldwide. But Trump believes that “at some point,” we would be “better off” if Japan, South Korea and Saudi Arabia get one. And if the thought of nuclear proliferation under Trump’s watch isn’t frightening enough, consider this: He says “we need unpredictability” when it comes to nuclear weapons—one of the most reckless statements made by a major presidential candidate in memory.

Praise brutal dictators and regimes

Trump has publicly picked fights with our allies around the world, including the British prime minister, London’s first Muslim mayor, the German chancellor, the Mexican president, and even the pope.

But he’s also publicly praised some of the most brutal dictators and regimes around the world, citing their use of force as a leadership quality he admires.

On the Chinese government’s actions in Tiananmen Square, which he recently dismissed as a “riot”: “When the students poured into Tiananmen Square, the Chinese government almost blew it. Then they were vicious, they were horrible, but they put it down with strength. That shows you the power of strength.”

On North Korea’s Kim Jong Un: “You’ve gotta give him credit. … He goes in. He takes over. He’s the boss. It’s incredible.”

On Russia’s Vladimir Putin: “I think in terms of leadership, he’s getting an A … .”

On former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein: “There were no terrorists. He would kill them immediately. He didn’t do it politically correct.”

Threaten to pull the U.S. out of NATO

Trump has said that the U.S. spends “a fortune” defending NATO countries like Germany. And he added, “If we have to walk, we have to walk.”

Actually, NATO is one of the best investments America has ever made—and it remains vital to our national security. Previous Commanders-in-Chief on both sides of the aisle have understood that America’s alliances make us stronger and more effective—and they provide a significant advantage that our adversaries cannot match. Turning our back on our allies would do irreparable damage.

Hillary Clinton says, “Making Donald Trump our Commander-in-Chief would be a historic mistake .” She’s right: Because no matter who’s sitting next to him in the Situation Room, as Trump reminds us, “ultimately it’s my thought more than anybody else’s”—and that should terrify you.

This article by Elizabeth Chan first appeared on Hillary Clinton's campaign website on 27 April