Trump linked Istanbul attack with his border-security wall on New Year's Eve
Video footage of Donald Trump's remarks during his New Year's Eve party shows the president-elect linking a terrorist attack in Turkey with his promise to wall off America's southern border.
The ISIS terror army claimed responsibility on Monday for the actions of a murderous gunman who stormed a popular nightclub and left at least 39 revelers dead just an hour after 2017 began in Istanbul.
More than 5,900 miles away, Trump segued to an announcement about the carnage as he vamped about border security.
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Donald Trump delivered impromptu remarks during the annual New Year's Eve party at his members-only club in Palm beach, Florida
Trump tied the evening's terror attack on a Turkish nightclub (aftermath shown) to his pledge to wall off America's border with Mexico
Courtesy Palm Beach Daily News
'We're going to have strong borders so that when people come into the country, they're going to come into the country legally – Which is the way we want to have it,' the president-elect told about 800 guests at the Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida.
'We will build a wall. You know that. We will build a wall.'
'And speaking of walls,' he pivoted, 'so in Turkey tonight – I don't know, has anybody heard? Big disaster took place in Turkey tonight. Many, many, many people killed. A whole big deal going on over there. It's a horror show.'
The Palm Beach Daily News published raw footage of a portion of Trump's brief remarks.
The incoming president, who also owns the members-only club, also rattled off a list of other campaign promises.
'[It takes] a long time to save a billion dollars in our business,' he said. 'And now we have a contract, the F-35 fighter. You saw that, right? $1.5 trillion. But it's slightly over budget, like 400 billion. These numbers are crazy.'
'All I can tell you is we're going to do a good job, okay? we're going to do a good job. Your taxes are coming down. Regulations are coming off. We're going to get rid of Obamacare.'
The Mar-a-Lago club's grand ballroom hosted 800 guests, along with members of the Trump family, on Satutrday night
The president-elect once called for a 'complete and total ban' on Muslim immigrants entering the U.S. in response to a string of jihadi terror attacks
Trump has framed his argument for a wall between the U.S. and Mexico as a way to block the flow of illegal immigrants into California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas – and as an impassable obstacles to narcotics trafficking.
But he also linked global terror with U.S. national security repeatedly during his run for the White House.
He initially reacted to a December 2, 2015 terror attack in San Bernardino, California – a jihadi couple's mass shooting that claimed 14 lives – by advocating for a 'complete and total' ban on new Muslim immigration into the U.S.
Just weeks earlier, a series of coordinated attacks in Paris left 89 people dead during a rock concert at the Bataclan theatre.
Trump's linkage between national security and global terror was a frequent topic in his campaign speeches, often topped off with a reading of lyrics from Al Wilson's song 'The snake'
Grieving: Tearful relatives of Fatih Cakmak, a security guard and a victim of an attack by a gunman at Reina nightclub, broke down during his funeral in Istanbul
A July 2016 truck attack on a Bastille Day party crowd in Nice, France drew more outrage from Trump Tower. That followed a shooting attack at an Orlando, Florida gay nightclub.
Trump later softened his position to a nation-specific plan for 'extreme vetting' applied to visitors and immigrants from terror-prone countries.
But he hasn't shifted from his view that porous borders make it easier for would-be Islamic terrorists to make their way into the U.S.
Among Trump's most oft-recited campaign messages consisted of him reading the lyrics from an Al Wilson song titled 'The Snake.'
It's a tale about a kind woman who rescues a snake, only to have it bite her after it recuperates.
'"Oh shut up, silly woman," said the reptile with a grin,' the parable concludes.