Obama slams Trump's new call for Muslim ban after Orlando shooting

US President Barack Obama has slammed White House hopeful Donald Trump’s renewed call for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the country, as last weekend’s gay nightclub massacre in Orlando continues to make waves in the presidential campaign.

“We have gone through moments in our history before when we acted out of fear and we have come to regret it,” Obama said in Washington on Tuesday, after a meeting of the National Security Council.

“This is a country founded on basic freedoms, including freedom of religion. We don’t have religious tests here.”

“In the face of hate and violence, we will love one another. We will not give into fear.” —POTUS https://t.co/i7fOS38GzH

— The White House (WhiteHouse) June 12, 2016

He added that: “If we ever abandon those values, we would not only make it a lot easier to radicalise people here and around the world, but we would have betrayed the very things we are trying to protect.”

The president, without mentioning Trump by name, also dismissed criticisms that he refused to use the term “radical Islamic terrorism” to describe ISIL militants. Obama called the phrase a political distraction.

Is President Obama going to finally mention the words radical Islamic terrorism? If he doesn't he should immediately resign in disgrace!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 12, 2016

Obama reiterated that there is no indication a foreign terrorist group directed Sunday morning’s massacre but said the killer appears to have been radicalised online, describing him as “angry, disturbed and unstable”.

On Thursday, Obama will travel to Orlando to honour the 49 people slaughtered and more than 50 others injured.