Trump not backing out of plan to ban Muslims

US President-elect Donald Trump is refusing to back out of his plan to temporarily ban all Muslims from entering the United States.

During his presidential election campaign, Trump had called for a "total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States." But he had not emphasized the controversial proposal since his victory in the November 8 election.

However, speaking at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, on Wednesday, the incoming Republican president declined to back off the Muslim immigration suspension plan.Asked whether the recent deadly attack at a market in Berlin has him reconsidering his proposals, including establishing a network to register and trace Muslims living across the US and closing down mosques, Trump answered vaguely, according to Politico.  

"You know my plans," Trump said, adding, "All along, I've been proven to be right, 100 percent correct."

On Thursday, Trump's advisers attempted to downplay his intentions, but still some observers believe that the billionaire is recommitting himself to the controversial campaign pledges.Kellyanne Conway, Trump's newly appointed counselor to the president, argued that the president-elect's subsequent pledge to institute "extreme vetting" of immigrants is "not a complete ban" of Muslims.

She insisted that religion will not be a litmus test for people travelling to the United States.

"He said during the campaign long after he had originally proposed that, that this would be more strictly tied to countries where we know they have a history of terrorism and that this is not -- this is not a complete ban," she told ABC News.

Trump's December 2015 proposal, titled "Donald J. Trump Statement on Preventing Muslim Immigration," was widely condemned by Muslim and human rights groups as well as his Democratic rivals and many of his Republican proponents who describe the proposal as divisive, counterproductive and contrary to American values.

Even Indiana Governor Mike Pence, now Trump's incoming vice president, called it "offensive and unconstitutional."

The plan, which was never publicly renounced by Trump, read, "Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what is going on."

"According to Pew Research, among others, there is great hatred towards Americans by large segments of the Muslim population," it added.

"Without looking at the various polling data, it is obvious to anybody the hatred is beyond comprehension. Where this hatred comes from and why we will have to determine," the statement continued.

Trump's campaign had been hit with many controversies since its inception in early 2015, but he still managed to stun the world by defeating the heavily-favored Democrat candidate, Hillary Clinton, in the election.

Thousands of people since then have held demonstrations in cities across the US to protest against Trump's victory, condemning his controversial campaign rhetoric against Muslims, immigrants, women and other groups.