Trump’s Call to End Gitmo Transfers Will Not Affect Obama Policy - White House

President-elect Donald Trump’s call to end the transfer of prisoners from the US detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba will not impact President Barack Obama's actions, White House spokesperson Josh Earnest said in a briefing.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Earlier in the day, Trump stated in a Twitter message that the US government should not transfer any more prisoners from the Guantanamo detention center in order to stop them from committing more crimes.

"No, it will not,” Earnest stated on Tuesday when asked if Trump’s comment would affect Obama’s decisions related to prisoner transfers from Gitmo. "[Trump] will have an opportunity to implement the policy that he believes is most effective when he takes office on January 20th."

Earnest added that the Obama administration has not given US Congress any individual notifications of detainee transferred so far.  However, he assured that additional releases are possible before the end of Obama's term.

Obama has made closing the detention facility a priority for his administration, arguing that its use has been a potent recruiting tool by terror groups and the prison has damaged US reputation abroad.

At present, seven of the 59 detainees remaining at Guantanamo Bay are on trial. Dozens of others have never been charged with terrorism or other offenses.

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