U.S. President Donald Trump used Twitter late Monday to again call for a travel ban from what he called "dangerous countries" while criticizing what he sees as "politically correct" efforts to soften his original executive order to block entry to people from a group of majority-Muslim countries.
"That's right, we need a travel ban for certain DANGEROUS countries, not some politically correct term that won't help us protect our people!" Trump wrote.
That followed tweets earlier Monday on the same topic blaming the Justice Department for a "watered down" version of the ban that Trump signed after his original order was challenged in court.
The first executive order banned entry to people from Iraq, Iran, Syria, Libya, Yemen, Somalia and Sudan for 90 days and indefinitely banned refugees from Syria, while giving exceptions to religious minorities.The revised order dropped Iraq from the list, changed the Syrian refugee ban to 120 days and removed the religious exception.
Multiple federal courts have barred authorities from enforcing the order, saying it amounts to unconstitutional religious discrimination against Muslim, with judges citing as part of their reasoning comments Trump made when he was a candidate for president and before he took office.
Trump's campaign once included a call to ban all Muslims from entering the United States, a policy that was later changed to advocating "extreme vetting" for people from countries with a link to terrorism.
The Trump administration has insisted the executive order is not a Muslim ban, and the president has argued the executive order is necessary to protect national security.
"In any event we are EXTREME VETTING people coming into the U.S. in order to help keep our country safe," Trump said Monday."The courts are slow and political!"
He further wrote, "The Justice Dept. should ask for an expedited hearing of the watered down Travel Ban before the Supreme Court - & seek much tougher version!"
The Justice Department last week filed an appeal with the Supreme Court asking it to hear an appeal in one travel ban case in which the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the administration.Other cases are still awaiting rulings from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Trump's wrath at Khan
Trump's Twitter postings Monday also included more of his criticism of London Mayor Sadiq Khan, saying Khan "had to think fast" on his statement that people in his city should not be alarmed to see a greater police presence in the streets following a deadly attack.
Trump's original response to Khan's statement drew criticism for wording that suggested the mayor was saying there was no reason to be alarmed by the attack itself.
"At least 7 dead and 48 wounded in terror attack and Mayor of London says there is 'no reason to be alarmed!" Trump wrote.
In an interview Monday with Britain's Channel 4 News, Khan said he does not have time to respond to tweets from Trump and said Britain should call off a planned state visit by the U.S. president expected later this year.
"I don’t think we should roll out the red carpet to the president of the USA in the circumstances where his policies go against everything we stand for," Khan said."When you have a special relationship it is no different from when you have got a close mate. You stand with them in times of adversity but you call them out when they are wrong. There are many things about which Donald Trump is wrong."
British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said later in a BBC radio interview that Khan "is entirely right to say what he said to reassure the people of his city about the presence of armed officers on the streets." But Johnson said the invitation for Trump's visit has been accepted and he sees "no reason to change that."
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson responded to a question Tuesday about Trump's tweets about Khan and other topics by saying, "That's up to him."
"The president has his own unique ways of communicating with the American people, and the world," Tillerson said during a visit to New Zealand."And it's served him pretty well, and I don't intend to advise him on how to communicate."
