Donald Trump would ‘consider closing some mosques’

Billionaire Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump said on Monday that the United States should “strongly consider” shuttering some mosques as part of its efforts to prevent extremist attacks in the country.

“You’re going to have to watch and study the mosques, because a lot of talk is going on in the mosques,” Mr Trump told cable broadcaster MSNBC after Friday’s horrific attacks in Paris that killed at least 129 people.

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said that radical mosques and groups that attack the country’s values should be shut down.

MSNBC asked if Mr Trump would do the same in the United States if he were President.

As the hunt for the perpetrators of the attacks in Paris continues, Mr Trump said that he is uniquely qualified to be Commander-in-Chief because he has an “instinct” for sensing threats.

“In my book I predicted terrorism. Because I can feel it,” said Mr Trump, speaking to thousands of supporters packed into Tennessee’s Knoxville Convention Centre. “I can feel it like I feel a good location.” Mr Trump was referring to a passage in one of his books, The America We Deserve, in which he warned of the threat posed by terrorism and referenced Osama Bin Laden as a “shadowy figure”. The book was published in 2000, before the September 11 attacks.