Steps up attack

Trump steps up his attacks on Bush and 9/11

By Nick Gass

Donald Trump on Monday continued to defend and explain how he would have prevented the 9/11 attacks, touting his "very, very strong" policies on immigration that would have made it more difficult for the hijackers to obtain visas.

"Well I think certainly could have done a lot better," the Republican presidential candidate told "Fox &Friends." "If you look at it, Jeb during the debate, said 'my brother kept us safe,' and I said to myself I didn’t want to embarrass him that night, but I said to myself, well wait a minute, he kept us safe? We lost the World Trade Center on Sept. 11."

Trump drew fire late last week and throughout the weekend for remarking in a Bloomberg interview that the 9/11 attacks that claimed the lives of nearly 3,000 people more than 14 years ago happened "during the reign" of George W. Bush, the older brother of fellow contender Jeb Bush.

He also faulted intelligence gaps between the CIA, FBI and the NSA, which he said "came out as a major problem" and would not have happened in a Trump administration.

Pressed by co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck on whether Bush kept the country safe after the attacks, Trump agreed that he had, but again slammed Bush for his decision to invade Iraq less than two years later.

"Well we haven't had a major problem at home. I agree with that. I've never disagreed with that," he said. "But we attacked a country, we spent $2 trillion attacking a country, and you know what we have for it right now? Zero."