On Tuesday, President-elect Donald Trump tweeted thoughts on the U.S. military detention center at Guantanamo Bay and stated that he believes there should be “no further releases” of the “extremely dangerous people” that are held there.
“There should be no further releases from Gitmo,” Trump tweeted. “These are extremely dangerous people and should not be allowed back onto the battlefield.”
Just hours after the President-elect’s tweet, the White House stated that they were planning on moving forward with releasing more prisoners despite Trump’s objections.
“I would expect, at this point, additional transfers to be announced before January 20,” White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters.
During then-Presidential candidate Barack Obama’s campaign run in 2008, he vowed to shut down the facility and release 100 percent of the prisoners during his Presidency. In 2016, President Obama reiterated his intentions and said he’s “absolutely committed to closing the detention facility at Guantanamo.”
Trump has been vocal about his opposition to President Obama’s plan to shut down the facility. On the same day President Obama reiterated his commitment to empty the facility and close it completely, Trump spoke out at a rally in Nevada highly opposed that decision.
“This morning, I watched President Obama talking about Gitmo, right, Guantanamo Bay, which by the way, which by the way, we are keeping open,” Trump told the crowd. “Which we are keeping open … and we’re gonna load it up with some bad dudes, believe me, we’re gonna load it up.”
As of October 17, 2016, only 60 detainees remain at the facility of the 775 that have been placed there since Gitmo opened in 2002.
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