The mass shooting in Orlando, Florida, has allowed Donald Trump to seize upon a familiar issue he has used to great advantage — the threat of Islamist militants and his plan to limit Muslim immigration to the United States, offering him what could be a crucial moment to re-boot his sputtering presidential campaign.
But while rank-and-file voters might respond positively to Trump's renewed call for a ban on some Muslims entering the country, his reaction to the massacre showed few initial signs of winning over Republican foreign-policy figures who have spurned the New York mogul.
"It's a missed opportunity to present a different image," said Peter Feaver, a top National Security Council aide in the George W. Bush White House. "He has doubled down on policies I oppose and that aren't going to solve the problem."