The political news cycle has been consumed with all things Donald Trump this week following his call Monday for a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.” Members of both parties have called the Republican presidential front-runner’s proposal hateful, bigoted and dangerous – and many journalists have questioned whether it applies to his own Muslim friends. (While the ban would include both immigrants and visitors, Trump later clarified that it would not apply to American citizens traveling abroad and would allow some exemptions.) “We have to do the right thing,” Trump told Barbara Walters on Tuesday night. “Somebody in this country has to say what’s right. I have great respect and love – I have people I have tremendous relationships with, they’re Muslim, and, Barbara, they agree with me 100 percent.” POLITICO takes a look at some of Trump’s past relationships with Muslims or those who have at one time identified with the Islamic faith.
