--- title: Donald Trump Muslim Ban: White House Can't Decide on Wording description: The Trump Administration can't decide whether barring travelers from seven majority-Muslim countries is a travel ban or not. canonical: https://time.com/4656807/travel-ban-white-house-wording/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-02-01T18:25:36.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-06-24T06:56:54.058Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump's Team Can't Decide Whether the Travel Ban Is a 'Ban' og:description: They called it a ban, argued it wasn't, and now say it doesn't matter. og:url: https://time.com/4656807/travel-ban-white-house-wording/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt41149af58dfa60b8/6988b7b9428a9e8933cd5aa2/trump-muslim-ban.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: U.S. President Donald Trump signs an executive order to impose tighter vetting of travelers entering the United States, at the Pentagon in Washington og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump's Team Can't Decide Whether the Travel Ban Is a 'Ban' twitter:description: They called it a ban, argued it wasn't, and now say it doesn't matter. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt41149af58dfa60b8/6988b7b9428a9e8933cd5aa2/trump-muslim-ban.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Trump's Team Can't Decide Whether the Travel Ban Is a 'Ban' > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=79da09a6-b0fe-42e2-9730-b8d20349febd&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: This Video Is No Longer Available [Watch (HLS stream): This Video Is No Longer Available](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/fKodeUO6.m3u8) (0:10)  _Published 2026-06-23. The Trump Administration can't decide whether barring travelers from seven majority-Muslim countries is a travel ban or not._ by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Feb 1, 2017 6:25 PM UTC by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Feb 1, 2017 6:25 PM UTC The Trump Administration can’t decide whether [barring travelers from seven majority-Muslim countries](http://time.com/4652552/president-trump-is-suspending-a-refugee-program-and-banning-visas-from-7-countries/) and suspending a refugee program is a travel ban or not. Since signing an executive order on Friday, President Trump has called the order a “ban” as have White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer and advisor Kellyanne Conway. But after facing criticism and protests in recent days, Spicer pushed back at a press briefing on Tuesday, arguing “it’s not a travel ban.” “A ban would mean people can’t get in,” [he said](http://www.ktvh.com/2017/01/spicer-says-travel-ban-shouldnt-be-called-ban). “We’ve clearly seen hundreds of thousands of people come into our country from other countries.” Homeland Security Secretary [John Kelly ](http://time.com/4655017/the-homeland-security-secretary-said-president-trumps-visa-ban-wasnt-a-surprise/)made a similar argument at a separate press conference on Tuesday. “This is not a travel ban,” he said. “This is a temporary clause that allows us to better review the existing refugee and visa-vetting system.” On Wednesday, however, Trump himself weighed in, arguing in a tweet that the terminology didn’t matter. > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/826774668245946368) In the video above, see examples of the Trump Administration describing the travel ban. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4656807/travel-ban-white-house-wording/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4656807/travel-ban-white-house-wording/"},"headline":"President Trump's Team Can't Decide Whether the Travel Ban Is a 'Ban'","datePublished":"2017-02-01T18:25:36.000Z","dateModified":"2026-06-24T06:56:54.058Z","description":"The Trump Administration can't decide whether barring travelers from seven majority-Muslim countries is a travel ban or not.","url":"https://time.com/4656807/travel-ban-white-house-wording/","keywords":["White House","Immigration","Donald Trump","kellyanne conway","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt41149af58dfa60b8/6988b7b9428a9e8933cd5aa2/trump-muslim-ban.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ryan Teague Beckwith","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt41149af58dfa60b8/6988b7b9428a9e8933cd5aa2/trump-muslim-ban.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"U.S. President Donald Trump signs an executive order to impose tighter vetting of travelers entering the United States, at the Pentagon in Washington","caption":"U.S. President Donald Trump signs an executive order to impose tighter vetting of travelers entering the United States, at the Pentagon in Washington, U.S., January 27, 2017. 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