Trump opened up a dangerous 'can of worms' by telling Israel to bar Omar and Tlaib: national security expert

President Donald Trump's decision to openly encourage the Israeli government to bar Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) has been roundly condemned by Democratic lawmakers -- and at least one national security expert believes it's setting a dangerous precedent.

Ilan Goldenberg, the director of the Middle East Security Program at the Center for a New American Security, has written up a Twitter thread explaining why the president's edicts to Israel to ban American lawmakers could do lasting damage to the United States.

"They did this despite urging from all of Israel’s strongest supporters in Congress to come out against this including Engel, Deutch, Lowey, etc.... and from calls from leaders in the American Jewish community including AIPAC," Goldenberg writes. "And why? The answer is easy. It’s because it helps Bibi with his domestic politics and upcoming election and helps Trump with his racist agenda & effort to pick fights with the squad."

Goldenberg also warns that this decision will open up "a can of worms" for every member of Congress who wants to travel abroad, and he says that even right-wing Israeli politicians cheering on the move should have second thoughts.

"Many governments may now find it much easier to deny far right wing members of Bibi’s government entry," he writes. "Given all this, hope to see universal condemnation from members of Congress on both sides of the aisle, presidential candidates, and from the American-Jewish community."

Read the whole thread below.