One of the largest gatherings of evangelical leaders in a generation will take place Tuesday here under the veil of a media blackout.

The guests of honor and the main speakers will be Donald Trump and Dr. Ben Carson – and it will not only be closed to the press, it will be sealed with tight security.

The event at the Marriott Marquis has some wondering whether the daylong program, titled “A Conversation About America’s Future with Donald Trump and Ben Carson,” offers what looks to some involved like the first glimpse of a possible 2016 GOP presidential ticket, as the presumptive nominee meets with as many as 900 Christian conservative leaders, including James Dobson, Ralph Reed, Penny Nance of Concerned Women for America, Tim Wildmon of the American Family Association, Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council, American Values President Gary Bauer and many megachurch pastors.

Many of those invited to the gathering were not early supporters of Trump. Some have still not endorsed him.

As Perkins said, “Many evangelicals did not support him. There are many out there that I think would like to, but there is some uncertainty. … Look, as evangelicals, Christians, conservatives in this process, we not only want to have influence but we also have to be a witness to the truth. And, so part of that is, ‘Alright, let’s have a conversation about these issues. Maybe you didn’t think through them.’ And I give him the benefit of the doubt that as a businessman who’s been doing other things, he’s not thought through these policies, and that’s why you’ll see him from time to time change his positions once it’s been explained to him.” (Read more from “Media Banned From Trump Summit With Christian Leaders” HERE)

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In the days after America’s deadliest mass shooting, presumed GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump is making a hard pitch for support among LGBT Americans by tying shooter Omar Mateen to radical Islamic beliefs he reportedly espoused before killing 49 people at a popular Orlando gay bar.

Earlier this week, Trump said same-sex attracted Americans should support his candidacy over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s. While the likely Democratic nominee has backed the full LGBT agenda, including redefining marriage and eliminating sex segregation in restrooms, Trump said her willingness to allow Syrian and other refugees into the country endangers same-sex attracted Americans.

An Attack on Who We Are

“Crooked Hillary wants to increase these immigration numbers very, very substantially,” said Trump at a campaign event on Tuesday. “She’s no friend of women. And she’s no friend of LGBT Americans. No friend, believe me.”

Mateen attacked the club “to execute gay and lesbian citizens for their sexual orientation,” he said. “It’s a strike at who we are as a nation. It’s an assault on the ability of a free people to live their lives, love who they want, and express their identity.”

Trump has given mixed messages with regards to the political issues often prioritized by LGBT groups. Last August, he said he believes marriage should be limited to between a man and a woman, but he also opposed a constitutional amendment making that view the law because it wouldn’t pass. “Anybody that’s making that an issue is doing it for political reasons. The Supreme Court ruled on it.”

The thrice-married Trump has said marriage should be a states’ rights issue, and that as president he would appoint judges that support traditional views on marriage and religious liberty. But he also supports workplace laws that puts same-sex sexual attractions in the same category as race or sex. According to leading social conservative Maggie Gallagher, he only “conditionally” backs the First Amendment Defense Act, a popular conservative bill that would guarantee religious liberty for business owners and others opposed to redefining marriage.

A Limited Response

Trump’s success to gain LGBT support appears to be limited, so far, with mostly small and anonymous backing. The Washington Examiner quoted three people who said they were gay and declared their support for Trump. In a post at PJ Media, an anonymous gay blogger backed Trump, saying that liberals believe “appeasing Muslims is more important than defending the lives of gay people. Every progressive who runs interference for Islamic murderers is complicit in those murders, and I can no longer be a part of that team.”

That blogger said he was writing anonymously thanks to the danger of being a public Trump backer.

One influential gay conservative who came out this week said LGBT Americans should stand with Trump. “It’s disgusting what the Democratic Party is doing right now. I’m shocked and that’s why I came out,” Gateway Pundit blogger Jim Hoft told Newsmax TV. “These Democrats, Steve, we are going to see more dead bodies, more dead mothers, babies and dead gays in nightclubs until they wake up!” In his original blog post, he called gays to “come back home to the Republican Party.”

While he declined to say whether Clinton or Trump would prove better for the LGBT movement’s goals, gay lobby Log Cabin Republicans president Gregory Angelo told The Stream that “national security is — or should be — an important issue for LGBT Americans. In his remarks in New Hampshire, Mr. Trump emphasized this point.”

Angelo previously described Trump’s views as “all over the place.” At the time, Angelo said he was encouraged that Trump

has attended a same-sex wedding, opposes discrimination against gay people in the workplace, and told a lesbian reporter that the LGBT community can expect ‘forward motion’ on equality when President Trump is in office, [but] the promise Mr. Trump has made to appoint justices to the Supreme Court who would overturn the 2015 marriage equality ruling is deeply concerning.

Some LGBT leaders are not taking so kindly to Trump’s outreach, however. Chad Griffin, President of the radical Human Rights Campaign, told CNN that “he is no friend to the LGBT community. … I bet there is not a single family member or friend or brother or sister or girlfriend or boyfriend that is suffering from this great loss that found any comfort in what Donald Trump had to say today.”

Angelo criticized people whose “knee-jerk reaction is to call someone a hypocrite simply because they are moved to offer support for a community in need,” in reaction to those like CNN’s Sally Kohn and Anderson Cooper who criticized Christians who oppose the LGBT movement’s goals yet condemned Mateen’s actions. “People who hadn’t so much as uttered the phrase ‘LGBT community’ are now stepping up to offer compassion and support. That should be embraced instead of shunned by injecting that compassion with politics.”

Normally Democrats

LGBT voters typically back Democratic candidates. In 2012, President Obama won their support three-to-one over GOP nominee Mitt Romney, and few expect Trump to make much progress in reversing that pattern.

Although, Angelo argued, “in a post-marriage equality country…the LGBT community dividing along ideological lines and eschewing traditional identity politics. There could be a shuffling of ideology among the LGBT electorate in this election cycle, but only time will tell whether that translates to more votes for the Republican nominee for president.” (For more from the author of “After Orlando, Trump Pitches for LGBT Support, Still Sending Mixed Messages About Marriage” please click HERE)

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Donald Trump is doubling down on his promise, if elected, to institute a temporary ban on Muslim immigration to the U.S.

Trump spoke Monday in New Hampshire at a rally. He admitted he planned on addressing Hillary Clinton’s policies but was forced to address national security issues in light of the terrorist attack at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, which killed 49 and injured dozens more.

Having no problem, apparently, with the word choice, Trump described the attack in Orlando as radical Islamic terrorism. Seeming to some very presidential in his address to the nation, Trump said, “A radical Islamic terrorist targeted the nightclub not only because he wanted to kill Americans, but in order to execute gay and lesbian citizens because of their sexual orientation.”

Trump said the U.S. has a “dysfunctional immigration system” and “an incompetent administration, and if I am not elected president, that will not change over the next four years,” implying a Clinton administration would be four more years of failed Obama policies.

Promising to use executive order to keep America safe, Trump said, “I will use this power to protect the American people. When I am elected, I will suspend immigration from areas of the world when there is a proven history of terrorism against the United States, Europe or our allies, until we understand how to end these threats.”

Trump said radical Islam is “incompatible with Western values and institutions.” He vowed, “I refuse to allow America to become a place where gay people, Christian people, and Jewish people are the targets of persecution and intimidation by radical Islamic preachers of hate and violence. It’s not just a national security issue. It is a quality of life issue.”

Saying the U.S. has “imported radical Islam” into the West, Trump pointed to the fact all of the 9/11 hijackers were given U.S. visas and were legally allowed to plot and carry out terrorism while on U.S. soil.

Trump said the U.S. has a “dysfunctional immigration system” and “an incompetent administration, and if I am not elected president, that will not change over the next four years,” implying a Clinton administration would be four more years of failed Obama policies.

He said the same could be said of Somalis in Minnesota who joined and attempted to join ISIS, as well as the Boston Marathon bombers who were granted asylum in the U.S. All came through the immigration system legally, therefore the system must be broken.

Trump also referenced the San Bernardino Islamic terrorists as further proof the immigration and resettlement program is broken and must be fixed.

Drawing a contrast between himself and Clinton, Trump promised to develop an intelligence system “second-to-none” to ensure radicals do not enter the country. But Trump says Clinton plans to increase Syrian refugee settlement by 500 percent.

Trump promised to work closely with Muslim communities in the U.S., but adds they have a huge responsibility to be vigilant as well. He said, “I want us all to work together, including in partnership with our Muslim communities. But Muslim communities must cooperate with law enforcement and turn in the people who they know are bad – and they do know where they are.”

Vowing to protect all Americans, Trump said, “When I am president, I pledge to protect and defend all Americans who live inside of our borders. Wherever they come from, wherever they were born, all Americans living here and following our laws will be protected.” (For more from the author of “Trump Addresses National Security, Renews Call for Temporary Ban on Muslims” please click HERE)

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After Barack Hussein Obama again failed to credit Islamic terror for a slaughter on American soil, presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump took to Twitter, slamming the President:

Here is Trump’s full statement on the Orlando slaughter:

Donald J. Trump Statement Regarding Tragic Terrorist Attack in Orlando, Florida

Last night, our nation was attacked by a radical Islamic terrorist. It was the worst terrorist attack on our soil since 9/11, and the second of its kind in 6 months. My deepest sympathy and support goes out to the victims, the wounded, and their families.

In his remarks today, President Obama disgracefully refused to even say the words ‘Radical Islam’. For that reason alone, he should step down. If Hillary Clinton, after this attack, still cannot say the two words ‘Radical Islam’ she should get out of this race for the Presidency.

If we do not get tough and smart real fast, we are not going to have a country anymore. Because our leaders are weak, I said this was going to happen – and it is only going to get worse. I am trying to save lives and prevent the next terrorist attack. We can’t afford to be politically correct anymore.

The terrorist, Omar Mir Saddique Mateen, is the son of an immigrant from Afghanistan who openly published his support for the Afghanistani Taliban and even tried to run for President of Afghanistan. According to Pew, 99% of people in Afghanistan support oppressive Sharia Law.

We admit more than 100,000 lifetime migrants from the Middle East each year. Since 9/11, hundreds of migrants and their children have been implicated in terrorism in the United States.

Hillary Clinton wants to dramatically increase admissions from the Middle East, bringing in many hundreds of thousands during a first term – and we will have no way to screen them, pay for them, or prevent the second generation from radicalizing.

We need to protect all Americans, of all backgrounds and all beliefs, from Radical Islamic Terrorism – which has no place in an open and tolerant society. Radical Islam advocates hate for women, gays, Jews, Christians and all Americans. I am going to be a President for all Americans, and I am going to protect and defend all Americans. We are going to make America safe again and great again for everyone.

– Donald J. Trump

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