Pick to replace Flynn turns down offer

US PRESIDENT Donald Trump said on Thursday he will issue a new executive order to replace his controversial directive suspending travel to the United States by citizens of seven mostly Muslim countries.

At a White House news conference on Thursday, Trump said the new order would seek to address concerns raised by federal appeals court judges, who temporarily blocked his original travel ban.

“The new order is going to be very much tailored to what I consider to be a very bad decision,” Trump said, adding: “We had a bad court.”

He gave no details about the replacement order. Legal experts said a new directive would have a better chance of withstanding courtroom scrutiny if it covered some non-muslim countries and exempted non-citizen immigrants living in the US legally.

The original order, issued on January 27, triggered chaos at some US and overseas airports, led to international protests, complaints from US businesses and drew more than a dozen legal challenges.

In a court filing on Thursday, the Justice Department asked for a pause in proceedings before the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals, which sided with a federal court in Washington state to suspend the travel ban, while litigation over its legality according to the US Constitution played out.

The Justice Department asked the court to vacate that ruling once the administration has rescinded its original order and issued a new one. In an order later on Thursday, the 9th Circuit put proceedings over the ban on hold but did not say whether it would eventually withdraw its previous ruling.

The ban has been deeply divisiveintheus,withareuters/ipsos poll indicating about half of Americans supported it after the order took effect.

Trump’s decision to issue a new directive plunges court proceedings over his earlier order into uncertainty. Litigants around the country said they will carefully examine any new policy to see if it raises similar constitutional issues and will continue to pursue legal action if necessary.

Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson, who filed the case that produced the 9th Circuit ruling, claimed victory.

“Today’s court filing by the federal government recognises the obvious — the President’s current executive order violates the Constitution,” Ferguson said.

Trump has said travel limitations are necessary to protect the US from attacks by Islamist militants. His original order barred people from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen from entering the country for 90 days. Refugees were banned for 120 days, except those from Syria, who were banned indefinitely. REUTERS US PRESIDENT Donald Trump’s choice for national security adviser, retired Vice Admiral Robert Harward, has turned down the offer, a senior White House official said on Thursday.

Harward was offered the job after Michael Flynn was fired by Trump on Monday.

The White House official said Harward cited family and financial reasons for opting not to take the job.

Two sources familiar with the decision said Harward turned down the job in part because he wanted to bring in his own team. That put him at odds with Trump, who had told Flynn’s deputy that she could stay.

Trump had earlier referred to Harward and said: “I have somebody that I think will be outstanding for the position.” REUTERS