Trump orders Guantanamo Bay prison kept open

WASHINGTON—Moments before delivering his State of the Union address Tuesday night, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to keep open the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. “In the past, we have foolishly released hundreds and hundreds of dangerous terrorists only to meet them again on the battlefield,” Trump said in the speech. “I am asking Congress to ensure that, in the fight against ISIS and al-Qaeda, we continue to have all necessary power to detain terrorists, wherever we chase them down, wherever we find them. And in many cases, for them, it will now be Guantanamo Bay.” The order directed Defense Secretary Jim Mattis to review U.S. military detention policy and ensure the prison on a U.S. naval base along the coast of Cuba remains open. The president’s decision directly reverses the Obama administration’s effort to end the use of the prison to detain terror suspects. During President Barack Obama’s two terms, many detainees left Guantanamo Bay, but the prison never shut down altogether. No new prisoners have been sent there in more than a decade. The order requires Mattis to report back in 90 days on what to do with those still held at the prison.