WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Engaging Muslim communities was both a "homeland security imperative" and "personal mission," Johnson told Politico in an interview.
Trump’s proposed plan, Johnson explained, "would burn bridges to American Muslims when we’re trying to go in the exact opposite direction."
The plan was "beyond pale," he added.
Over the course of Trump’s bid for US presidency, he has also proposed establishing an Islamic registry, as well as tightening security at various mosques around the country.
Following the November terrorist attack in Paris on November 13 carried out by radicalized Muslims, President Barack Obama warned that anti-Muslim political rhetoric in the United States provided a potent recruitment tool for the Islamic State and other terror groups.