Donald Trump considering issuing 'brand new' travel ban after original policy overturned by courts

Chloe Chaplain11 February 2017

Donald Trump is considering signing a "brand new order" banning citizens from specific countries from travelling to the US after his previous ban was halted in court.

The US president told reporters on Air Force One that he expected his administration to win the legal battle over his original directive.

But he said the White House was also considering other alternatives, including making unspecified changes to the order, which could address some of the legal issues.

As Mr Trump flew to Florida for the weekend, his advisers debated their next steps after an appeal court backed a restraining order on the original travel ban.

The White House directive had suspended the nation's refugee programme and barred all entries from seven Muslim-majority countries.

A White House official initially suggested the administration would not ask the Supreme Court to overturn that order, but chief of staff Reince Priebus scrambled to clarify that "every single court option is on the table", including a high court appeal or "fighting out this case on the merits" in a lower court.

'Crucial': President Trump signing orders as his senior team looks on
Getty Images

Mr Trump's executive order was hastily unveiled at the end of his first week in office.

While the White House boasted that he was fulfilling a campaign promise to toughen vetting procedures for people coming from countries with terror ties, the order caused chaos at airports in the US and sparked protests across the country.

The president has cast the order as crucial for national security.

Ban lifted: A student from Iran is greeted at Logan Airport after the ban was lifted 
REUTERS

Earlier, he promised to take action "very rapidly" to protect the US and its citizens in the wake of the appeal court decision, but he did not specify what steps he planned to take.

"We'll be doing things to continue to make our country safe," Mr Trump pledged at a news conference with Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe.

"It will happen rapidly. We will not allow people into our country who are looking to do harm to our people."

The president's comments were far more restrained than his angry reaction to last week's initial court ruling blocking the travel ban when he attacked both the "so-called judge" in that case and the ruling, which he called "ridiculous".

But Mr Trump continued to conjure images of unspecified danger, saying he had "learned tremendous things that you could only learn, frankly, if you were in a certain position, namely president".

"And there are tremendous threats to our country. We will not allow that to happen, I can tell you that. We will not allow that to happen," he said.

The 9th Circuit ruling represented a significant setback for Mr Trump in just his third week in office.

US District Judge James Robart issued the temporary restraining order halting the ban after Washington state and Minnesota sued, leading to the government's appeal.

The Trump administration has said the seven nations - Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen - have raised terrorism concerns.

The states have argued that the executive order unconstitutionally blocked entry based on religion and the travel ban harmed individuals, businesses and universities.

Mr Trump and his aides frequently refer to a ruling by a federal judge in Boston who declined last week to extend a temporary injunction against Mr Trump's travel ban.

In a separate federal ruling in Seattle, a different federal judge put the ban on hold nationwide and it is that judge's decision that the White House has challenged.

"It's a decision that we'll win, in my opinion, very easily and, by the way, we won that decision in Boston," Mr Trump said.

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