Trump starts reelection bid 1,354 days in advance
NEW TRAVEL BAN Same seven nations targeted but green card holders exempt
WASHINGTON: Life is a campaign, President Donald Trump told reporters just a short while before launching his re-election bid for 2020 at a rally in Florida on Saturday, not even a month into his first term that has seen one high-level firing, an immigration order that outraged the world and a White House plagued by infighting.
The administration plans to issue a new immigration order this week, which, according to a leaked draft, will target the same seven Muslim-majority nations, but will spare permanent residents (holders of green cards) and which will be rolled out in a way that will give the government time to deal with lawsuits.
Speaking in Munich over the weekend, Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said the new version will not stop green card residency holders or travellers already on planes from entering the US.
“The president is contemplating releasing a tighter, more streamlined version of the first (executive order). And I will have opportunity to work (on) a rollout plan, in particular to make sure that there’s no one in a sense caught in the system of moving from overseas to our airports,” Kelly said on Saturday.
Asked whether green card residency permit holders would be allowed in, Kelly said: “It’s a good assumption and, as far as the visas go, ... if they’re in motion from some distant land to the United States, when they arrive they will be allowed in.”
He promised “a short phase-in period to make sure that people on the other end don’t get on air- planes. But if they’re on an airplane and inbound, they’ll be allowed to enter the country.”
The administration would seek to implement the new order soon after it is signed, and covers citizens from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing a memo from the State Department.
The original order, which Trump said was aimed at Islamist terrorism, banned people from these countries for 90 days and excluded all refugees for 120 days, except those from Syria, who were banned indefinitely.
Trump is also expected to name a successor to Michael Flynn, the National Security Adviser he fired over dealings with Russians, but has had trouble finding one after his first choice, US Navy vice-admiral, turned him down after failing to get an assurance he will be allowed to pick his team.
On Saturday, with 1,354 days left for the polls, the president went into full campaign mode, with supporters holding up “Trump for 2020” signs. For starters, he blasted the media as he used to, accusing it of having its “own agenda”, which he told supporters, was “not your agenda”.
And he also told them Thomas Jefferson, one of the Founding Fathers, and Abraham Lincoln, one of the most venerated of US presidents, had also complained about media. He quoted Jefferson, who had once extolled the virtues of a free press before souring on it, saying “nothing can be believed which is seen in a newspaper”.
Trump also reprised the claim of having inherited a mess, which has been angrily challenged by aides of former president Barack Obama who have pointed to continuous job growth for 75 months running, and extensive healthcare coverage in their boss’s defence.
But Trump can be selective, and creative, with facts. Repeating his vow to fight terrorism, Trump said, “We’ve got to keep our country safe. You look at what’s happening in Germany, you look at what’s happening last night in Sweden. Sweden, who would believe this?”
But there was really nothing to believe or disbelieve; nothing had happened in Sweden.
Carl Bildt, a former Swedish prime minister, tweeted, “Sweden? Terror attack? What has he been smoking? Questions abound.”