Donald Trump's chief of staff responds to calls for Muslim registry – 'we're not going to rule anything out'

'When a better vetting system is put in place, then those radical folks, they'll not be allowed in' says Mr Priebus

Donald Trump with Reince Priebus (AP)

Donald Trump’s incoming White House chief of staff has refused to rule out a registry system as part of his administration’s anti-terrorist strategy.

Reince Priebus said the President-elect was not planning to create a Muslim registry, despite his repeated and flippant promises throughout the campaign.

But Mr Priebus, an American attorney and Republican National Committee chairman, left the door open for some kind of vetting process.

“Look, I’m not going to rule out anything,” he said, speaking on Sunday during NBC’s Meet The Press.

“We’re not going to have a registry based on a religion.

“But what I think we’re trying to do is say that there are some people, certainly not all people … there are some people that are radicalised.

“And there are some people that have to be prevented from coming into this country.”

The billionaire tycoon, in a November 2015 video, described a network that would trace Muslims – despite a spokesman this month claiming he “never advocated” such a policy.

Mr Preibus added: “President Trump's position is consistent with bills in the House and the Senate that say the following: If you want to come from a place or an area around the world that harbours and trains terrorists, we have to temporarily suspend that operation until a better vetting system is put in place.

"When a better vetting system is put in place then those radical folks, they'll not be allowed in, but then others will be allowed in, but only until that is done. That's what General Michael Flynn believes and that's what President Trump believes."

Michael Flynn, Mr Trump’s incoming national security advisor, earlier this year branded Islam a “political ideology” that “hides behind” religion, and likened it to “malignant cancer”.

Last week, Mr Priebus claimed Mr Trump paid a $25m settlement over the university fraud case to avoid “distraction”.