Clinton: Trump's foreign policy 'absolutely bewilders' her

PHILADELPHIA -- Hillary Clinton vowed Tuesday to conduct a national security and foreign policy Americans could be proud of, saying rival Donald Trump "just absolutely bewilders" her when he talks about his policies around the globe.

Clinton embraced the U.S. Olympic team's success at a voter registration rally in Philadelphia, pointing to Team USA's gold as an example of an optimistic nation that runs counter to what she considers Trump's pessimism and negativity.

"It just absolutely bewilders me when I hear Donald Trump try to talk about national security," Clinton said, pointing to Vice President Joe Biden's dissection of Trump's foreign policy at a Pennsylvania event on Monday. "What (Trump) often says hurts us. It sends the wrong message to friend and foe alike." Turning to the Olympic team, she said, "Team USA is showing the world what this country stands for."

Trump on Monday said the country's national security requirements demanded "extreme" vetting of immigrants seeking admission to the United States, pointing to the threat of the Islamic State group and terrorism elements.

But he offered few specifics about how the process might work or how it would be paid for by taxpayers.

Tuesday night, he posted on Facebook a pledge to "reject bigotry and hatred and oppression in all its forms, and seek a new future built on our common culture and values as one American people."

That's a vastly different tone than he's often used during his year-plus campaign, and it comes after he's repeatedly refused to "pivot" from his appeal to Republican voters to the broader general electorate.

During Trump's campaign, he's said many Mexicans are rapists, feuded with the Muslim-American parents of an Army captain killed in Iraq and proposed to suspend immigration by Muslims and people from "terror countries."

Clinton and Trump have sought the upper hand as the chief executive most capable of battling terrorism.

While the GOP business mogul has vowed to project strength and decisive action against terror, the former secretary of state has pointed to her deep foreign-policy credentials and warned Trump could plunge the nation into another war.

Trump previously has called for an unprecedented temporary ban on Muslims entering the U.S. and said in his Ohio speech he would overhaul the nation's screening process and block those who sympathize with extremist groups or fail to embrace American values.

The Republican nominee has made changes to the nation's immigration system and the construction of a wall along the Mexican border a key part of his fight against terrorism and the Islamic State group, which he compared to the struggle against communism during the Cold War.

As president, Trump said he would encourage immigrants to assimilate and urge parents, teachers and others to promote "American culture."

But he declined to say which regions of the world would face "extreme" vetting and how federal agencies would go about conducting the review.

Trump traveled Tuesday to Milwaukee, the site of ongoing protests over the fatal shooting of a black man by a black police officer.

His visit followed several days of violence that has left businesses in flames.

Trump began his visit with a meeting with local law-enforcement officers at the Milwaukee County War Memorial Center on Lake Michigan, where he was joined by former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani.