'Donald, It Was a Movie' – See Harrison Ford's Perfect Response to Trump's Air Force One Praise

Harrison Ford

DOUGLAS GORENSTEIN/NBC

Harrison Ford wants Donald Trump to get off his proverbial plane. 

After the GOP front-runner praised the actor's turn as a terrorist-fighting president in 1997's Air Force One during a recent interview with The New York Times, Ford fired back with the perfect response. 

"Donald, it was a movie. It's not like this in real life. But how would you know?" the actor said in an interview with Studio 10 during an Australian press tour for his new film, Star Wars: The Force Awakens. 

See more at PEOPLE

Obama Visits Oregon One Week After Mass ShootingBRENDAN SMIALOWSKI VIA GETTY IMAGES

President Barack Obama flew to Roseburg, Oregon, one week after a mass shooting at Umpqua Community College that took the lives of 10 people and injured nine others.

Obama met privately with the families of the victims of the shooting, which was the 45th shooting at a school in the U.S. this year.

BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI VIA GETTY IMAGESPresident Barack Obama, Oregon Governor Kate Brown and Roseburg Mayor Larry Rich leave a meeting with the families of the Umpqua College shooting victims on October 9, 2015 in Roseburg, Oregon.

Obama promised Oregon Gov. Kate Brown (D), who appeared with him on Friday, he would do everything he could to help prevent other shootings from happening.

"I've obviously got very strong feelings about this," Obama said, according to a White House pool report.

"We're going to have to come together as a country, but today is about the families," Obama added.

Several gun-rights activists protested Obama's appearance by carrying signs and handguns along the road the president took to meet with family members.

After the Oregon shooting on Oct. 1, Obama expressed frustration with lawmakers for not taking action to strengthen gun laws, saying mass shootings have "become routine."

"We've become numb to this," Obama said in a statement given from the White House.

BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI VIA GETTY IMAGES

Obama has given statements on at least 15 mass shootings, including the UCC massacre, during his time in office. He has continually called for tighter gun control laws, something many Americans agree with. According to a HuffPost/YouGov poll, nearly half of Americans think laws governing the sale of handguns should be stricter, and a majority of Americans favor requiring a background check to be completed before all gun sales.

Read more at The Huffington Post

Planned Parenthood Goes To Court To Fight Funding Cuts In Alabama

ANDREW BURTON VIA GETTY IMAGES

Planned Parenthood filed a complaint in Alabama federal on Friday seeking to stop the state from defunding its health clinics after the release of covertly recorded videos attacking the organization's handling of aborted fetal tissue.

The reproductive-health organization took similar legal action earlier this week in Louisiana, which also plans to terminate its contract with Planned Parenthood to provide medical services to low-income residents.

Planned Parenthood, joined in the suit by the American Civil Liberties Union, said in court filings that Alabama's Republican governor illegally terminated its contract to provide health services under Medicaid, a federal and state healthcare program for the poor. It seeks court action to ensure Alabama patients continue to have access to Planned Parenthood services.

Governor Robert Bentley gave Planned Parenthood no explanation, and only 15 days notice, when he announced the termination earlier this month, the organization said.

Bentley is among the conservatives voicing outrage after the release of a series of videos this summer by a national anti-abortion group, the Center for Medical Progress.

The center says the videos show Planned Parenthood officials discussing the illegal sale of aborted fetal tissue.

Planned Parenthood has denied wrongdoing. On Thursday it released an analysis questioning what it called deceptive edits, inaccurate transcripts and missing footage in the widely viewed videos, which have spurred investigations in the Republican-controlled U.S. Congress.

As some conservatives in Washington seek to cut its federal funding, Alabama, Louisiana and Arkansas have targeted the Planned Parenthood's Medicaid funding, covering preventive healthcare services such as birth control and cancer screenings.

“The federal government and several courts have made clear that a state cannot kick Planned Parenthood out of its Medicaid program simply because Planned Parenthood provides abortion,” Susan Watson, executive director of the ACLU of Alabama, said in a statement.

U.S. health officials warned Alabama and Louisiana that terminating the Medicaid contracts may illegally restrict beneficiary access to services.

The ACLU chapter is representing Planned Parenthood Southeast, a regional affiliate that operates health centers in Birmingham and Mobile, Alabama. The lawsuit noted that the southeastern affiliate did not participate in fetal tissue donation programs.

The Alabama governor's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

(Reporting by Letitia Stein in Tampa, Florida; Editing by Mohammad Zargham)

Source: The Huffington Post

Donald Trump Kicks Jorge Ramos Out Of Press Conference

Donald Trump on Tuesday dismissively told highly respected television anchor Jorge Ramos to "go back to Univision" before security physically removed the Mexican-American journalist from a press conference in Dubuque, Iowa.

Ramos was trying to ask Trump about his plan to deport all undocumented immigrants, but the business mogul and GOP presidential candidate said he was interrupting. He insisted that security had made the decision to kick out Ramos, but said he was fine with it.

"This guy stands up and starts screaming," Trump said. "He's obviously a very emotional person."

Trump claimed he didn't know much about Ramos, which may have been true. But he probably should -- Ramos is wildly popular as a Spanish-language anchor and well-regarded for pressing politicians from both parties on issues, particularly immigration. 

Trump, by contrast, is mostly disliked by Latinos, and going after Ramos is unlikely to help that fact. 

The anchor was eventually let back into the press conference and got the chance to have an extended back-and-forth with Trump. Ramos pointed out that denying citizenship to children of undocumented immigrants, as Trump wants to do, would be a violation of the Constitution. Trump said he was wrong. Ramos asked how he would build a 1,900-mile wall; Trump said he could do it because he builds 95-story buildings.

When Ramos noted that an estimated 40 percent of undocumented immigrants came to the U.S. legally and overstayed their visa, Trump said, "I don't believe it."

Trump promised to deport undocumented immigrants who are gang members "so fast your head will spin." Others will also be deported but "good ones" would be allowed to come back, Trump insisted.

As to how he would do such a thing, Trump -- yet again -- wouldn't say. 

"You know what it's called? Management," he said.

It wasn't Trump's first point of awkwardness with Univision, which he sued for $500 million in June after the network ended its contract to air the Miss USA pageant, which he co-owns. 

Univision president of news and Fusion CEO Isaac Lee released a statement following Ramos' treatment at the event: "We'd love for Mr. Trump to sit down for an in-depth interview with Jorge to talk about the specifics of his proposals."

Jeb Bush Says He Doesn't Regret Using The Term 'Anchor Babies'

Jeb Bush said Thursday he doesn't regret using the term "anchor babies" to describe children born in the United States to undocumented parents.

While taking questions from the press after a town hall in New Hampshire, the former Florida governor and GOP presidential hopeful was a Hfsked if he regretted using the term during a radio interview earlier this week.

"I don't," he said. "Do you have a better term? ... You give me a better term and I'll use it."

"Is that not bombastic?" a reporter asked.

"No, it isn't," he said. "Give me another word."

"What I said was it's commonly referred to [as] that," Bush continued. "I didn't use it as my own language. What we ought to do is -- do you want to get to the policy for a second? I think that people born in the country ought to be American citizens. Okay? Now we got that over with."

Watch video of the exchange above.

Bush used the derogatory term during an interview with radio host Bill Bennett Wednesday while discussing Donald Trump's recent call to end birthright citizenship. The former governor said he disagreed with Trump, but called for "greater enforcement" of the policy to prevent "abuse."

"If there's fraud or if there's abuse, if people are bringing, pregnant women are coming in to have babies simply because they can do it, then there ought to be greater enforcement," he said. "That's the legitimate side of this. Better enforcement so that you don't have these, you know, 'anchor babies,' as they're described, coming into the country."

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton called out her potential GOP rival on Twitter:

They're called babies. https://t.co/VyJJA26OVl

— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) August 19, 2015

Source: The Huffington Post

Dozens of retired generals, admirals back Iran nuclear deal

U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry speaks at a Reuters Newsmaker event Tuesday in New York on the nuclear agreement with Iran. (Brendan McDermid/Reuters)

Three dozen retired generals and admirals released an open letter Tuesday supporting the Iran nuclear deal and urging Congress to do the same.

Calling the agreement “the most effective means currently available to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons,” the letter said that gaining international support for military action against Iran, should that ever become necessary, “would only be possible if we have first given the diplomatic path a chance.”

The release came as Secretary of State John F. Kerry said U.S. allies were “going to look at us and laugh” if the United States were to abandon the deal and then ask them to back a more aggressive posture against Iran.

Not only would U.S. global credibility be undermined, Kerry said, but also the dollar’s position as the world’s reserve currency would be threatened.

“It’s not going to happen overnight,” Kerry said in a public question-and-answer session at Reuters news service headquarters in New York . “But I’m telling you, there’s a huge antipathy out there” to U.S. leadership. Pointing to efforts by Russia and China to join forces with rising, nonaligned powers, he said that “there’s a big bloc out there, folks, that isn’t just sitting around waiting for the United States to tell them what to do.”

Read more at The Washington Post

Donald Trump Drawing Fire From All Corners Of GOP

WASHINGTON, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Rival Republican presidential candidates piled on Donald Trump on Saturday for his caustic remarks about a female debate moderator, and the billionaire celebrity candidate backpedaled in an effort to keep his campaign from unraveling.

Trump blasted Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly during a debate in Cleveland on Thursday when she questioned him about insulting comments he had made about women. The backlash to his exchange with Kelly has threatened to knock the wheels off the bandwagon of support that had Trump leading early polls in the race for the Republican nomination for the 2016 election.

Asked about Kelly on a CNN interview on Friday, Trump said: "You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes. Blood coming out of her wherever."

Trump was promptly dumped from a keynote speaking role on Saturday night in Atlanta at an important gathering of conservative activists put together by the RedState organization. Republican candidates Carly Fiorina, Scott Walker, Lindsey Graham, Rick Perry and George Pataki denounced the comments on Twitter or in statements.

RedState chief Erick Erickson said he disinvited Trump because of his remarks about Kelly on CNN.

The Trump campaign issued a statement clarifying that by "her wherever," Trump meant Kelly's nose.

"Mr. Trump made Megyn Kelly look really bad - she was a mess with her anger and totally caught off guard," the campaign said. Trump said 'blood was coming out of her eyes and whatever' meaning nose, but wanted to move on to more important topics. Only a deviant would think anything else."

Erickson, who invited Kelly to replace Trump at the conference, said he revoked Trump's invitation because he did not "want someone on stage who gets a hostile question from a lady and his first inclination is to imply it was hormonal."

A campaign spokeswoman said on Saturday that Trump had fired senior political adviser Roger Stone, the second firing of a senior staffer over the past week. The reason cited was that Stone was using the Trump campaign for his own personal publicity. Stone denied being fired, saying he resigned over the direction of Trump's campaign.

Trump also took to Twitter on Saturday to renounce politically correct attitudes, as he had done at the debate.

"So many 'politically correct' fools in our country," he wrote. "We have to all get back to work and stop wasting time and energy on nonsense!"

Rival candidates, however, hammered on their doubts that Trump was ready to represent the Republican party in a presidential run.

"Enough already with Mr. Trump," said Graham, a senator from South Carolina. "As a party, we are better to risk losing without Donald Trump than trying to win with him."
He added: "Due to Donald Trump's unrelenting and offensive attack on Megyn Kelly and others, we are at a crossroads with Mr. Trump."

Without mentioning Trump's name, Jeb Bush made reference to him when he spoke to RedState. Bush, former governor of Florida, said the tough questions at the debate were nothing compared to the challenges the next president will face.

"You think that's tough? How about dealing with (Russian President Vladimir) Putin? How about dealing with the challenges that exist in our country? This is nothing," he said.

Erickson read aloud some of the emails he had been getting from Trump supporters to protest his move, saying it appeared the Trump campaign had made his email address available to them.

In some of the emails, according to Erickson, the writers used a racial epithet to refer to President Barack Obama and made other inflammatory comments.

"I've got to tell you guys, I made the right decision," said Erickson. "These are the people I don't ever want at a RedState event." (Writing and reporting by Bill Trott; Additional reporting by Steve Holland; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

Source: The Huffington Post

It's all about Trump at raucous Republican debate

Republican 2016 U.S. presidential candidate businessman Donald Trump (C) heads to the stage between Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker (L) and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush (R) for the start of the first official Republican presidential candidates debate of the 2016 U.S....

REUTERS/BRIAN SNYDER

Donald Trump refused to rule out an independent White House bid and bristled at questions about his attitudes toward women, leaving his rivals struggling for attention on Thursday during a feisty first Republican presidential debate.

The nine other Republicans sharing the stage with Trump turned on one another at times but largely avoided direct challenges to the combative real estate mogul who has rocketed to the top of opinion polls in the 2016 race.

Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky did take on Trump, confronting him after Trump kicked off the debate by refusing to pledge his support for the Republican nominee in the November 2016 election.

"I will not make the pledge at this time," said Trump, who for weeks has said he would not rule out an independent bid that would almost certainly split the Republican vote and boost the chances of victory for the Democratic nominee.

Trump's response drew boos from the crowd and a rebuke from Paul, who said Trump was keeping his options open to support Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton, a reference to his past friendship with both Clinton and her husband, Bill.

"He's already hedging his bets because he's used to buying politicians of all stripes," Paul said.

Trump's veiled threat to bolt the party if necessary could risk his support among Republican primary voters and stall his momentum, although the billionaire reality television star has repeatedly defied predictions of political doom.

In a show of hands, participants in a Fox News focus group who supported Trump before the debate overwhelmingly indicated they had changed their minds about him, critical of his refusal to commit to backing the eventual Republican nominee.

"I think he took out a gun and shot his campaign in the head," said Florida Republican strategist Rick Wilson.

(For candidates' comments at a glance: reut.rs/1gNN90T)

NO CLEAR WINNER

No candidate emerged the clear winner from the two-hour debate, leaving the Republican race potentially more unsettled than ever. A record 17 candidates are vying for their party's nomination.

During a combustible performance, Trump fired off insults at Paul, Fox News moderator Megyn Kelly, comedian Rosie O'Donnell, the Mexican government and an assortment of other targets.

He tangled with Kelly when she pressed him about past derogatory comments he had made about women, including calling them “fat pigs,” “dogs,” and "slobs," Trump dismissed the question as “political correctness.”

He accused Kelly of not treating him well, drawing more boos from the audience.

“Honestly Megyn, if you don’t like it, I’m sorry. I’ve been very nice to you although I could probably maybe not be based on the way you have treated me,” Trump, whose base of support is overwhelmingly male, said to a mixture of boos and applause.

The debate's feisty tone suited the flamboyant Trump, who has been the center of campaign attention for weeks for his personal attacks on rivals and his scathing comments about U.S. Senator John McCain's war record and about Mexican immigrants.

Trump kept it up in the debate, calling the Mexican government "much smarter, much sharper, much more cunning and they send the bad ones over."

The sometimes combative nature of the debate made bystanders at times of more measured rivals such as former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, who is No. 2 in the polls, and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker.

Bush called Trump's rhetoric "divisive" and said "we're going to win when we unite people with an optimistic message."

Bush's senior advisers said after the debate they were happy with his mistake-free performance, which focused on him talking up his record as Florida governor.

Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson finished second behind Trump in the number of mentions on Twitter. Trump led with 30 percent, while Carson was second at 12 percent and Paul was third with almost 10 percent.

SIDE-BY-SIDE COMPARISON

The debate was the first chance for Republican voters to make a side-by-side comparison of the top 10 presidential contenders. Trump's rivals had to decide whether to directly confront him or to try to stay above the fray and look presidential.

Paul, who has lagged in the opinion polls, went on the offensive. In addition to challenging Trump on his potential independent run, Paul accused Trump of not realizing that Republicans opposed a single payer healthcare system. But Trump dismissed his attacks.

"You're having a hard time tonight," Trump said.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie belittled Paul's efforts in the Senate to curtail the government's electronic surveillance system, saying there should be more tools for tracking terrorists.

"When you're sitting in the subcommittee just blowing hot air about this, you can say things like that," Christie said.

Before the main event, seven candidates whose poll ratings did not qualify them for prime time took part in a separate daytime debate. Several challenged Trump's conservative credentials, noting he had changed positions on abortion, healthcare and other issues.

But Carly Fiorina, a former business executive and the only woman in the Republican field, acknowledged Trump had tapped into a broad sense of frustration with Washington.

"Whatever your issue, your cause, the festering problem you hoped would be resolved, the political class has failed you. That's what Donald Trump has tapped into," said Fiorina, who was the runaway choice at more than 80 percent when Fox News asked viewers to tweet who they thought won the first debate.

Shortly after the early debate, social media interest in Fiorina surpassed interest in Trump, according to Google analytics. The next Republican debate is on Sept. 16.

(Additional reporting by Megan Cassella, Luciana Lopez, Amanda Becker; Writing by John Whitesides; Editing by Ross Colvin and Howard Goller)

Source: Reuters

Here's Who Republicans Wish Hadn't Been Left Out Of The Debate

Just because they're not planning to vote for a candidate doesn't mean they don't want to watch them onstage.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Republicans mostly don't mind having their first primetime debate capped at 10 candidates, but they'd prefer a slightly different lineup. 

Fox News, which is hosting the debate on Thursday, chose the politicians receiving the most support in an average of recent surveys, with the remaining seven consigned to a separate forum. But a new HuffPost/YouGov poll, which instead directly asked Republicans to pick up to 10 different candidates they'd like to see debate, found slightly different results.

While they agree with the top eight contenders, rank-and-file Republicans say they'd swap out the two lowest-polling candidates included, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Ohio Gov. John Kasich.

Instead, they'd rather watch two politicians who missed the cut: former Texas Gov. Rick Perry and businesswoman Carly Fiorina.

Christie is disliked by a sizeable fraction of his own party, many of whom who don't see him as adequately conservative; Kasich, meanwhile, remains unknown to most in the GOP.

Read more at The Huffington Post

Trump at center stage as Republicans square off in first debate

Golf - RICOH Women's British Open 2015 - Trump Turnberry Resort, Scotland - 31/7/15US Presidential Candidate Donald Trump outside his hotelAction Images via Reuters / Russell CheyneLivepic

Donald Trump will be at center stage and potentially in the line of fire on Thursday as 10 leading Republican presidential candidates look for a break-out moment at their first debate on the road to the November 2016 election.

The real estate mogul, along with rivals Jeb Bush, Scott Walker, Marco Rubio and six others, square off at 9 p.m. EDT at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, just three hours after seven candidates who rank lower in the polls wrap up a separate debate.

The prime-time event, to be moderated by Fox News anchors Bret Baier, Megyn Kelly and Chris Wallace, will offer Americans their first look at the major candidates en masse with six months to go until Iowa holds the first nominating contest.

For Trump, the first debate offers an opportunity to prove whether he has a substantive vision for the country and go beyond his brick-throwing rhetoric.

His rapid rise to the top of the Republican pack in polls has earned him center-stage status in the debate.

Trump's take-no-prisoners style of campaigning - with a penchant for incendiary remarks such as those on the war record of Senator John McCain and on Mexican immigrants, whom he branded as criminals and rapists - has also earned him a level of press coverage that has eclipsed many of his rivals.

The big question for Trump's rivals is whether they will be willing to take him or simply stand back and hope he implodes on his own in Thursday's debate.

The leading contenders like Bush, Walker and Rubio are likely to stress their records and vision while others who are more in need of a boost in the polls, like Ohio Governor John Kasich or New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, may find value in tangling with Trump.

The Bush camp made clear that the intention of the former Florida governor at the debate is to sell his record as a conservative, tax-cutting governor. The Walker camp made similar pledges about the Wisconsin governor's aim at the debate.

Republican strategist Katie Packer said the smart strategy is to steer clear of the mud-slinging Trump.

"There's no point in fighting with a pig because you just get dirty and you make the pig mad," she said.

Bush, who ranks second behind Trump in most polls, told NBC News last week that he had no problem with going head-to-head with Trump or any other Republican candidate in the debates.

"I'm a big boy," he said. "I'll be showing up with my big boy pants on."

Trump told ABC's "Good Morning America" on Wednesday that he wants a civil debate.

“I don’t want to attack anybody and maybe I’ll be attacked and maybe not,” Trump said. "I'd rather just discuss the issues."

Most Republicans believe Trump will positively influence the debate, saying his presence will challenge the establishment and open the party to new ideas, a Reuters/Ipsos poll shows.

Many rank-and-file Republicans see Trump's blunt and unpredictable style as an asset. More than two-thirds agreed that his debate appearance would challenge the establishment, while 62 percent said it would lead to more honesty, and 61 percent said it would open the party to new ideas.

The poll found about half of Republicans thought Trump's presence meant something offensive would be said, while 42 percent believed he would add comedy to an otherwise boring event. Thirty-two percent thought he would make a mockery of the political process.

(Reporting by Steve Holland; Editing by Leslie Adler)

Source: Reuters

Kasich, Christie make the cut for prime-time Republican debate

Republican U.S. presidential candidate and Ohio Governor John Kasich participates in the Voters First Presidential Forum in Manchester, New Hampshire August 3, 2015.

REUTERS/BRIAN SNYDER

Republican Governors Chris Christie and John Kasich on Tuesday grabbed the last spots on stage next to front-runner Donald Trump and seven others in the first prime-time presidential debate, winning a potentially valuable head start in exposure.

Former Texas Governor Rick Perry, former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum and five others in the crowded 2016 Republican field were left out of Thursday's televised 9 p.m. EDT debate by host Fox News, which invited the top 10 candidates in an average of five recent opinion polls.

The leftover candidates will appear in a separate forum outside of the spotlight at 5 p.m. EDT on Thursday, leaving them fighting to win attention and prove to voters and donors they have a legitimate shot at the nomination.

At center stage in prime time will be Trump, the real estate mogul who has shot to the top of Republican polls, flanked by former Florida Governor Jeb Bush and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, the top three finishers in the poll average.

Also making the cut were former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, U.S. Senators Marco Rubio of Florida, Ted Cruz of Texas and Rand Paul of Kentucky, and Governors Christie of New Jersey and Kasich of Ohio.

Shuffled to the earlier forum were Perry, Santorum, U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, former business executive Carly Fiorina, former New York Governor George Pataki and former Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore.

Those candidates deemed not ready for prime time at the Cleveland debate tried to stay positive.

"I look forward to answering questions on Thursday in Cleveland," Fiorina said in a statement. Perry said on Twitter he looked forward to the forum "for what will be a serious exchange of ideas and positive solutions to get America back on track."

Fox's decision to limit the participants created weeks of anxiety for those on the bubble. It also was criticized by some Republicans as unfair given the number of candidates bunched in the low single digits, well within the margin of error of most polls.

Fox said Kasich, the last debate qualifier, averaged 3.2 percent in the polling. Perry, the first one out, averaged 1.8 percent.

Fox said it used polls conducted by Bloomberg, CBS News, Fox News, Monmouth University and Quinnipiac University, the five most recent national polls using standard methodology.

(Additional reporting by Emily Stephenson; Editing by Sandra Maler, Eric Beech and Leslie Adler)

Souce: Reuters

Exclusive: Donald Trump's companies have sought visas to import at least 1,100 workers

Golf - RICOH Women's British Open 2015 - Trump Turnberry Resort, Scotland - 31/7/15US Presidential Candidate Donald Trump points as he stands outside his hotelAction Images via Reuters / Russell CheyneLivepic

Donald Trump is staking his run for U.S. president in part on a vow to protect American jobs. But this month, one of his companies, the elite Mar-a-Lago Club resort in Florida, applied to import 70 foreign workers to serve as cooks, wait staff and cleaners.

A Reuters analysis of U.S. government data reveals that this is business as usual in the New York property magnate's empire.

Trump owns companies that have sought to import at least 1,100 foreign workers on temporary visas since 2000, according to U.S. Department of Labor data reviewed by Reuters. Most of the applications were approved, the data show.

Nine companies majority-owned by Trump have sought to bring in foreign waitresses, cooks, vineyard workers and other laborers on temporary work-visa programs administered by the Labor Department.

The candidate's foreign talent hunt included applications for an assistant golf-course superintendent, an assistant hotel manager and a banquet manager.

Two of his companies, Trump Model Management and Trump Management Group LLC, have sought visas for nearly 250 foreign fashion models, the records show.

Trump’s presidential campaign and a lawyer for the businessman declined to comment. The Mar-a-Lago Club could not be reached for comment.

The analysis of Trump's history of actively importing foreign workers comes as he has emerged as an early front-runner in the race for the Republican nomination in the November 2016 presidential election. Trump has positioned himself as a champion of American workers whose livelihoods are threatened by illegal foreign laborers and the offshoring of U.S. jobs.

“I will be the greatest jobs president that God every created," he said in announcing his candidacy on June 16. "I will bring back our jobs from China, Mexico and other places. I will bring back jobs and our money."

Trump generated both notoriety and buzz by singling out Mexican immigrants in the United States. “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best," he said in the speech. "They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists."

In a speech on July 11, Trump distinguished between those working legally and illegally in the United States, saying thousands of "legal" Mexicans - "incredible people" - have worked for him over the years.

The Labor Department records don't specify the nationality of the foreign workers sought by companies. But Trump could be bringing many Mexican workers into the United States.

Reuters examined records of applications for three categories of temporary work visas - the H-2A, H-2B and H-1B programs - submitted by employers to the Labor Department.

A CONTROVERSIAL VISA PROGRAM

The temporary work visa program through which Trump's companies have sought the greatest numbers of workers, H-2B, brings in mostly workers from Mexico. Mexicans made up more than 80 percent of the 104,993 admissions to the United States on H-2B visas in 2013. The Trump companies have sought at least 850 H-2B visa workers.

The H-2B program, which receives little government oversight, is used by companies in sectors ranging from hospitality to forestry to hire foreign workers for temporary jobs. Companies must prove that the jobs are seasonal - and that they tried and failed to hire Americans.

U.S. government watchdogs have criticized the H-2B and H-2A programs over the years for failing to protect foreign and American workers alike.

In 2003, the Labor Department Inspector General said: “Abuses of these programs may result in economic harm to American workers and businesses, exploitation of foreign workers, and security risks associated with aliens who are admitted to this country by fraudulent means.”

This year, the Government Accountability Office published a report saying that workers in the country on H-2A and H-2B visas have experienced abuse, including being charged illegal recruiting fees, substandard housing and low pay.

The Mar-a-Lago, a luxury resort in Palm Beach, Florida, has sought the most foreign workers of the nine Trump businesses: 787 workers since 2006, according to the data.

This month, the resort filed paperwork seeking to bring in 70 foreign workers later this year on H-2B visas to serve as maids, cooks and wait staff, according to paperwork known as “job orders” published on the Labor Department's web site.

In addition to the resort and the modeling agencies, the Trump-owned companies identified in the Reuters analysis were Jupiter Golf Club, Lamington Farm Club LLC, Trump Miami Resorts Management LLC, Trump National Golf Club LLC, Trump Payroll Chicago LLC and Trump Vineyard Estates LLC.

(Edited by Michael Williams)

Source: Reuters