Trump hints at new curbs after travel ban thwarted
President indicates he will sign new immigration ban after initial order suffers series of court setbacks
DONALD TRUMP last night indicated he may sign a “brand new” immigration ban as early as Monday after the White House suggested he would not take a legal battle over his original executive order to the Supreme Court.
Mr Trump condemned a “disgraceful decision” by an appeal court in San Francisco to block his initial order, signed on Jan 27, which temporarily banned entry to the US for people from seven mainly Muslim countries.
He said: “We’ll be doing something very rapidly having to do with additional security for our country.
You’ll be seeing that some time next week. We are going to do whatever is necessary to keep our country safe.”
Mr Trump said he had learnt of threats “you could only learn of if you were in a certain position, namely president” and he would “not allow that to happen to our country”.
He added: “In addition we will continue to go through the court process and, ultimately, I have no doubt we’ll win that particular case.”
Mr Trump later indicated he was considering signing a new executive order on immigration while the original one was held up by the appeal court.
It was expected that would have more precise language about who was barred from the country, particularly in relation to Green Card holders.
Speaking on Air Force One Mr Trump said: “We also have a lot of other options including just filing a brand new order. We need speed for reasons of security. So it could very well be that we do that. I’d like to surprise you.”
Mr Trump said “in honour” of the appeal court decision he would wait until next week to respond with any action. “Perhaps Monday or Tuesday,” he said.
Mr Trump had the option to take the case straight to the Supreme Court within days. But it would be decided there before he could secure the appointment of his conservative Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch to the bench, with Democrats set to delay that by filibustering in Congress.
Without Judge Gorsuch, who is not expected to be seated for at least two months, the court is split 4-4 between conservative and liberal judges, and Mr Trump would need the support of five justices to secure the ban.
Amid conflicting messages from the White House Reince Priebus, Mr Trump’s chief of staff, said that an appeal to the US Supreme Court over the original travel ban was still possible.
Meanwhile, Mr Trump’s adviser Kellyanne Conway reportedly apologised to him following a TV appearance at the White House in which she urged viewers to buy items from his daughter Ivanka’s clothing line, which critics called a conflict of interest. Mrs Conway later said she had spoken to Mr Trump and he “supports me 100 per cent”.
Outside Washington there were signs of protest movements mobilising with several Republican congressman facing rowdy town hall meetings.
Mr Trump’s order banned people from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen from entering the US for 90 days, and all refugees for 120 days. Syrian refugees were banned indefinitely.
US investigators say they have corroborated some of the communications in a 35-page dossier about Mr Trump’s ties to Russia, CNN reported last night.
Those officials have not said if any of the confirmed content relates directly to the president. The document, compiled by Christopher Steele, a former British agent, alleges the Kremlin colluded with Mr Trump’s presidential campaign and that the Russian secret services have material that could be used to blackmail him.