Trump Backtracks: I Won’t Break Torture Laws

Donald Trump said Friday that he would not use torture if elected president—a complete reversal from statements made just the night before, during Thursday’s GOP debate, in favor of committing war crimes. In a statement to The Wall Street Journal, Trump now says he would not order the U.S. military to break international laws, despite previously proclaiming he would authorize the military to kill family members of terrorists and that he would use torture techniques a “hell of a lot worse” than waterboarding. Trump now would “use every legal power that I have to stop these terrorist enemies,” but he understands “the United States is bound by laws and treaties and I will not order our military or other officials to violate those laws and will seek their advice on such matters.”