President Trump is expected to sign an executive action on Wednesday that will open the door to renewed use of CIA detention centers known as “black sites” and also review the CIA’s use of controversial interrogation tactics.
Although Trump had suggested on the campaign trail that he would allow his national security officials to employ torture against terror suspects, he has since echoed Defense Secretary James Mattis, who told him that torture is not a useful way to draw information out of detainees.
A draft action obtained by the Associated Press and the New York Times also instructs the Pentagon to continue operating the Guantanamo Bay prison facility, which former President Obama tried unsuccessfully to close for years.
Trump will reportedly sign a series of executive actions at the Department of Homeland Security headquarters on Wednesday, many of them related to immigration from the Middle East.
His pledge to restrict immigration temporarily from countries beset by terrorism was one of his most contentious campaign proposals. Opponents accused him of advocating for racial profiling and for policies that would unfairly target Muslims, while his supporters said Trump was taking steps necessary to secure the U.S. from terrorism.
Trump dedicated part of his inaugural address to his counterterrorism plans, vowing to “unite the civilized world against radical Islamic terrorism, which we will eradicate completely from the face of the earth.”
A White House official did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the executive actions.
