 WASHINGTON—Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump said Friday he wouldn’t order the U.S. military to break international laws—an attempt to tamp down criticism by military and legal experts that his policies on torture and killing terrorists’ family members would violate the Geneva Conventions. But in a statement Friday, Trump said that he understands "that the United States is bound by laws and treaties" and that he would "not order our military or other officials to violate those laws and will seek their advice on such matters." He added, "I will not order a military officer to disobey the law. During Thursday night's debate on Fox News, Trump reaffirmed his willingness to target the families of terrorists and supported the use of waterboarding, implying a willingness to use torture. "We should go for water-boarding and we should go tougher than water-boarding," 
 
 When asked what he would do if troops refused to carry out the procedure, he said: "They won't refuse. They're not going to refuse me. Believe me," Trump said.
– Apparently having slept on it, on Friday Donald Trump walked back the endorsement he gave to torturing terrorists and killing their families during the GOP debate Thursday night, the Wall Street Journal reports. "We should go for waterboarding, and we should go tougher than waterboarding," CNN quotes Trump as saying during the debate. The BBC points out the US has banned waterboarding, which is "widely considered" to be torture. Trump also said he would authorize the military to target the families of terrorists as a deterrent. Critics say both of those policies would violate international laws, including the Geneva Convention, and possibly lead to war crime charges. "I will not order a military officer to disobey the law," Trump said in a statement on Friday. "It is clear that as president I will be bound by laws just like all Americans.” CNN calls it a dramatic shift "in less than 24 hours." And the Journal notes Trump's reversal comes "after months of insisting that he wouldn’t back down." But he had been facing serious criticism over his statements. A former CIA director last week said the military would refuse to obey orders to torture terrorists or kill their families. Trump addressed that possibility during the debate, saying "They're not going to refuse me" and "If I say do it, they’re going to do it." A former secretary of defense said the plan to kill terrorists' families, especially, goes against "everything the United States stands for in this world."