"The second 'trigger point' of this topic is that this seemingly discordant statement actually presents a constitutional dilemma."

"Everyone knows the USA is a common law country."

"Although courts can overturn previous precedents under appropriate circumstances, and even at special historical moments, fundamental shifts in public values and social structure can trigger 'Constitutional Moments,' in the vast majority of cases, courts are bound by past rulings."

"And the Supreme Court's past rulings in similar situations are actually favorable to this 'Muslim Ban.'"

"First, the constitution stipulates: The US president holds immense power over immigration matters: Any type of entry restriction is not unconstitutional; the US government can ban foreigners from entering for any reason."

"For example, in 1889, the Supreme Court famously upheld the notorious 'Ching Chong Exclusion Act' on the same grounds," one excited assistant said.

The others were also nodding constantly, clearly these clever fellows had grasped Martin's point.

"Exactly, the law is very clear. Immigration law is different from other legal fields. Of course, the Supreme Court's ruling means we can enact any law targeting foreigners, as long as these laws don't apply to our own citizens, they should remain in effect. Historically, courts have not interfered with these legislative matters."

"The Supreme Court is very unlikely to overturn a century-old precedent. If they did that would mean granting foreigners the same civil and constitutional rights as US citizens. Everyone knows the USA isn't exactly a place of freedom and equality."

Martin cracked a joke, and all those assistants laughed understandingly. Only Trump looked puzzled.

What's the joke?

To avoid embarrassment, he laughed along.

"Of course, there will definitely be opposition, and I can predict what they'll say. For instance, the problem with this plan isn't just its constitutionality, but more whether the president can unilaterally make such a decision; for example, Congress's Immigration and Nationality Act did not grant the president such authority, and this would undermine congressional authority, etc."

"Also, past Supreme Court support for various immigration bans was based on nationality or race, whereas the ban we're proposing targets religious belief, which is undoubtedly one of its biggest weaknesses." ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ N()velFire.net

"However, we must understand: we're raising this topic not to win, but to gain heat. So naturally, the bigger the debate, the better."

Another assistant said, "To be honest, I suddenly feel this ban is quite feasible. From a legal perspective, this proposal has a fifty-fifty chance of being ruled constitutional by the Supreme Court."

Another assistant added, "Then it would come down to the voters' choice. If they don't want to ban Muslims from entering, they won't vote for Mr. Trump. But if they do want to ban Muslims... well, the current domestic public opinion is very unfavorable towards the Muslim community."

A young assistant slapped the table, "Exactly! We can fully present this proposal as Mr. Trump's official political stance to attract those who dislike Muslims to vote for us."

"Who even likes those Muslims anyway? They're either oil-rich sheiks living in luxury or extremist terrorists. The public has been brainwashed by public opinion. In the USA, aside from Muslims themselves, no one likes Muslims."

"Haha, we're not French either."

"Isn't France almost extinct because of Muslim immigrants?"

The assistants, in good spirits, started joking.

This time Trump understood and laughed heartily.

Three days later, Trump's team acted, and it indeed caused a huge stir.

Supporters and opponents were in an uproar.

The Muslim community and those sympathetic to Muslims cursed Trump vehemently, while the Jewish community and large numbers of white groups supported this stance.

Soon, under the guidance of interested parties, Trump's proposal sparked a nationwide debate, even drawing commentary from foreign media in Europe, Canada, Australia. The common people were passionately discussing this topic.

On February 9, 2016, the key campaign for the nomination in the US presidential primary——the New Hampshire primary——concluded.

By 8 PM, even the latest polling stations had closed. The "first-in-the-nation" primary state, New Hampshire, unveiled the second act of voting in the election year.

Hillary suffered a defeat to her intra-party competitor Bernie Sanders——in the Democratic Party's 93% counted votes, Sanders received 60%, Hillary 38%.

Meanwhile, Trump won his first intra-party victory with more than double the votes of his opponents——Clearly, New Hampshire voters gave Trump, with his lack of political experience, high recognition. His populist demands were successfully converted into votes here.

Martin's strategy was effective.

"Seeing today's results, I'm very happy," said independent voter Charles, a 38-year-old hotel manager who voted for Trump. "It's precisely because he has no governing experience that he will use a businessman's mindset to steer from a common person's perspective. The USA needs such change."

With the conclusion of the two "initial battles" in Iowa and New Hampshire, the candidates' armies immediately moved on to battle in South Carolina. The intensity of the intra-party competition only increased, and the ups and downs of the campaign promised more anxiety.

Meanwhile, Martin began preparing for the filming of IT.

In the original timeline, this film broke the historical box office record for horror films.

However, in this timeline, that record had already been broken by Get Out, and the previous record was also set by Martin's The Sixth Sense.

So the current historical box office ranking for horror films is:

Get Out: $789 million

The Sixth Sense: $724 million

Martin didn't mind breaking his own horror film record again.

IT had the capability to do so.

At the same time, large-scale promotion for Suicide Squad began.

"Mr. Snyder, it's been confirmed: Martin's Suicide Squad will be released in August."

"Ah, three months later than us. Well, Warner would absolutely not allow their own films to be released in the same period."

Zack Snyder calculated: Warner had scheduled his Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice for a May release, and Martin's Suicide Squad for August.

One was the opener of the summer season, the other the tail end. Clearly, they valued his work more.

Thinking this, he couldn't help but start feeling pleased.