There was swift backlash from fellow Republicans, world leaders and thousands of angry Americans. A defiant Donald Trump again refused to soften his tough talk even as administration officials walked back some onerous portions of the president’s new policy.
As Trump insisted his order barring citizens of seven Muslim-majority nations from the United States was the right thing to do, aides charged with implementing the policy wavered back and forth Sunday before saying they would allow green-card holders from the seven nations to enter in the U.S. They blamed the media for the uproar and insisting nothing had changed.
“I am very happy to inform you that everything I said then is still true today,” a senior administration official with knowledge of the situation but not authorized to speak publicly said late Sunday. “Nothing has changed.”
Still confusion reigned at airports throughout they day as immigrants, including some green card holders, were detained or barred from entering or were denied access to attorneys.
“America is a proud nation of immigrants and we will continue to show compassion to those fleeing oppression, but we will do so while protecting our own citizens and border,” Trump said in a statement Sunday. “America has always been the land of the free and home of the brave. We will keep it free and keep it safe, as the media knows, but refuses to say.”
To be clear, this is not a Muslim ban, as the media is falsely reporting. This is not about religion – this is about terror and keeping our country safe
President Donald Trump
The White House always faces pressure to act when presidents start their first term. But with Trump, the pressure was magnified because he won a stunning victory by convincing millions of Americans he would act – and act fast – with a mandate from that part of the nation yearning for change.
Trump reiterated his support for the measure he signed Friday in a series of tweets and his late-afternoon statement, and his advisers said that while they accept the judicial orders allowing green card holders to enter the nation, they will continue to study whether to expand the number of nations from which citizens could not enter the United States.
“I think we will learn over the course of his presidency that Trump communicates by action, not by speeches,” said former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who has long advised Trump. “He tells us he's going to do something and then he does it.”
Scott Jennings, who worked in the George W. Bush White House, said Trump and his aides are dismissing the “hysteria” about the order as simply more criticism from the very people who didn’t vote for him anyway.
“I think everything they have done this week has been a direct response to what brought them to the White House,” he said. “This is a core issue that he ran on.”
On Sunday, Trump reiterated that the U.S. will be issuing visas to all countries again once “we are sure we have reviewed and implemented the most secure policies over the next 90 days.” And his administration lifted any restriction on green card holders and those with valid visas.
After campaigning on the issue, Trump signed an order late Friday freezing refugee admissions and temporarily blocking people from seven nations from entering the United States even with valid visas: Iraq, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia, Yemen and Syria.
In office for only a week when he signed the order, Trump still has not filled many top staff positions and the ones he has filled are occupied by political aides with little or no government experience.