Donald Trump as a presidential candidate called for a ban on Muslims entering the United States, claiming large segments of the population had "great hatred towards Americans." But he also suggested that he wasn't calling for a ban, and then said he wasn't backtracking.
Let's sort out what's happened so far.
Days after a married Muslim couple carried out a deadly shooting attack in San Bernardino, Calif., his team released a statement Dec. 7, 2015, about his proposal.
"Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what is going on," it said.
Trump said polling and research backed his concerns over Muslims. But polling experts questioned the validity of the poll Trump cited and the center who issued the poll cautioned against generalizations.
Trump tweaked his message in his Republican nomination acceptance speech July 21, 2016: "We must immediately suspend immigration from any nation that has been compromised by terrorism until such time as proven vetting mechanisms have been put in place."
This prompted NBC's Chuck Todd to ask Trump if he was rolling back his stance on banning Muslims.
"I actually don't think it's a rollback. In fact, you could say it's an expansion. I'm looking now at territories. People were so upset when I used the word Muslim. Oh, you can't use the word Muslim. Remember this. And I'm okay with that, because I'm talking territory instead of Muslim," Trump said in an interview aired July 24, 2016.
As president, Trump has signed two executive orders — one in January and a replacement in March — to temporarily halt entry of nationals from several Muslim-majority countries in the Middle East and Africa. His administration said the countries were selected due to their connection to terrorism.
Challenges in courts halted the orders' implementation.
Some Democratic lawmakers have called his orders a Muslim ban, which the Trump administration has repeatedly refuted.
• Trump, Jan. 29: "To be clear, this is not a Muslim ban, as the media is falsely reporting. This is not about religion. This is about terror and keeping our country safe."
• Sean Spicer, Trump's press secretary, Jan. 31: "I think the president has talked about extreme vetting and the need to keep America safe for a very, very long time. At the same time, he's also made very clear that this is not a Muslim ban, it's not a travel ban. It's a vetting system to keep America safe."
• Vice President Mike Pence, Feb. 2: "It's not a Muslim ban. It's not in any way associated with religion."
Trump called for a Muslim ban as presidential candidate. As president, he has denied that his administration has directed a Muslim ban. We rate this promise Stalled.