Donald Trump said Tuesday that if he was president, his first act upon getting a late-night phone call about a terrorist attack would be to continue being "tough on the border," and he boasted about his poll numbers because of his tough rhetoric in that regard.
Trump did a phone interview on The Today Show in the early aftermath of the terrorist attack in Brussels, Belgium that's reportedly left at least 34 people dead.
"You know, often people talk about a president getting that 2 A.M. or 3 A.M. phone call when something tragic has happened either here at home or around the world, so let's go to the hypothetical situation," host Matt Lauer said. "President Trump gets that 2 A.M. phone call. What would you have done?"
"Well first of all, this is a subject that is very near and dear to my heart, because I've been talking about it, certainly much more than anybody else, and it's why I'm probably No. 1 in the polls, because of the fact that I say we have to have strong borders," Trump said. "We have to be very vigilant and careful who we allow into our country. I know Brussels well, and Brussels is a total mess."
"I'm not talking about the attack today. I'm talking about, generally speaking, it is a city that used to be one of the finest, one of the most beautiful, and one of the safest cities in the world, and now it's a catastrophic, very dangerous city where the police have very little control."
Lauer cut over Trump's response, asking, "Let me take you back to my question, Mr. Trump. What would you have done first as President of the United States if you got this call?"
"Well, as president, I would do probably what I would have been doing for the period of time that I was president," Trump said. "I'd be very, very tough on the borders, and I would be not allowing certain people to come into this country without absolute perfect documentation."