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Photo Hillary Clinton delivered remarks to reporters from inside an airport hangar in White Plains. Credit Stephen Crowley/The New York Times Hillary Clinton accused Donald J. Trump on Monday of imperiling American national security with his campaign rhetoric, as Mr. Trump called for police profiling of people from the Muslim world in the aftermath of bombings in New York and New Jersey.

Just around the time the police were closing in on a suspect, Ahmad Khan Rahami who was later taken into custody Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Trump were split in their reactions to the Manhattan attack on Saturday, which injured dozens. Both shifted quickly into familiar poses, with Mrs. Clinton stressing her national security credentials and measuring her words, and Mr. Trump sounding a note of furious alarm.

But the stakes for both candidates are likely higher now than they have ever been; with seven weeks left until the election and only a week before their first debate, their handling of a potential terrorism plot on American soil could leave a durable imprint on undecided voters.

Mrs. Clinton moved to take control of the debate with a cutting attack on Mr. Trump on Monday morning: In a news conference from a airport hangar in rainy Westchester, she urged Americans to show courage and vigilance, and not to demonize Muslims or Americans of foreign origin.

And describing herself as the only candidate in the race with experience fighting terrorism, Mrs. Clinton charged that Mr. Trump had helped the Islamic State and other terror groups with his campaign oratory broadly denouncing Muslims.

Continue reading the main storyCiting former intelligence and counterterrorism officials who have criticized Mr. Trump, Mrs. Clinton branded the Republican nominee as a recruiting sergeant for the terrorists.

Mr. Trump, she said, had helped the Islamic State and others cast their attacks as part of a religious war between Islam and the West.

They they are looking to make this into a war against Islam, rather than a war against jihadists, violent terrorists, Mrs. Clinton said, adding, The kinds of rhetoric and language Mr. Trump has used is giving and comfort to our adversaries.

Jason Miller, a spokesman for Mr. Trump, said in a statement that Mrs. Clinton was effectively accusing Mr. Trump of treason. Mr. Miller countered that Mrs. Clinton had erred by supporting the American withdrawal from Iraq, and forecast bloodshed under a Clinton presidency.

The only thing we can expect from a Hillary Clinton presidency is more attacks on our homeland and more innocent Americans being hurt and killed, Mr. Miller said.

But Mr. Trump, who has previously faced a backlash for his heated spoken and written words after terror attacks, was unbowed on Monday. Having reacted to past attacks by calling for a crackdown on Muslim immigration and on Muslim communities in the United States, Mr. Trump again recommended more aggressive policing to thwart future plots.



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Graphic: How the Manhunt for the Chelsea Bombing Suspect Unfolded In a telephone interview with Fox News that lasted most of a half-hour, Mr. Trump sketched a dark picture of the country as being under siege from international terrorists, and handcuffed in its ability to respond.

He asserted that law enforcement was being held back from intervening against suspected terrorists because of sensitivities about racial profiling. Mr. Trump also declared that there were foreign connections behind the attacks. He offered no evidence for either assertion.

Theres many foreign connections, Mr. Trump said. I think this is one group. O.K., this is one group. But you have many, many groups, because were allowing these people to come into our country and destroy our country.

Continue reading the main storyBecause of political correctness, Mr. Trump said, the police shy away from stopping even somebody who looks like hes got a massive bomb on his back.

If he looks like he comes from that part of the world, were not allowed to profile, Mr. Trump said.

He also said that people who disseminate information about bomb-making in magazines should be prosecuted for inciting violence. And his campaign released a statement accusing the Obama administration of minimizing the ISIS threat.

In some respects, the clash on Monday morning encapsulated the larger contrast in the race between Mr. Trump and Mrs. Clinton, and the differences in policy and political strategy that are likely to define the remainder of the campaign.

Mrs. Clinton plainly believes that she must present herself as an authoritative but steady hand in moments of violence, rather than trying to match Mr. Trump in the volume and intensity of his remarks. She has generally led Mr. Trump in most polls, though narrowly, asking voters which candidate they trust more on matters of national security and foreign policy.

Mrs. Clinton emphasized her experience in government repeatedly on Monday, saying repeatedly that she had been involved in counterterrorism in the past. Im the only candidate in this race whos been part of the hard decisions to take terrorists off the battlefield, she said.

Mr. Trump, having campaigned as a fiery nationalist throughout the 2016 campaign, has continued to channel the anger and fear of voters alarmed by terrorism. And while polls show voters have doubts about Mr. Trumps temperament and judgment, they have also regularly named him as the candidate they trust more to handle the Islamic State.

Both candidates are aiming to cut a presidential profile this week, with plans to meet with foreign leaders who are in New York for the annual meeting of the United Nations General Assembly.

Still, Mr. Trump, who drew criticism over the weekend for having declared that a bomb went off in New York, before the police had confirmed that fact, was unabashed about his lack of restraint on Monday. On Fox, Mr. Trump applauded himself for having been proven right about the blast.

Continue reading the main storyI should be a newscaster, he said. I called it before the news.

Correction: September 19, 2016

Because of an editing error, an earlier version of this article misstated the surname of the suspect in the bombings in New Jersey and New York. He is Ahmad Khan Rahami, not Rahmani.

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