President Trump Blasts Justice Department Over ‘Watered Down’ Travel Ban

President Donald Trump released a flurry of tweets on Monday criticizing the Justice Department and the U.S. court system over the revised version of his executive order temporarily banning travel from some Muslim-majority countries. The tweets marked the President’s second Twitter statement on the travel ban in the wake of the recent terrorist attack in London.

“People, the lawyers and the courts can call it whatever they want, but I am calling it what we need and what it is, a TRAVEL BAN!” Trump tweeted early Monday.

Both Trump’s original executive order and the subsequent revised version were blocked by the courts in part due to statements by the President and members of his administration, including comments that the goal was to stop Muslims from entering the country. Hawaii District Court Judge Derrick Watson wrote that statements “made in the months leading up to and contemporaneous with the signing of the Executive Order, and, in many cases, by the Executive himself, betray the Executive Order’s stated purpose.” The Justice Department has argued that the order is not discriminatory toward Muslims.

On Monday, Trump also blamed the Justice Department for “watering down” the travel ban after the first version was blocked by a federal court. He then suggested the Justice Department should argue for a tougher version of the travel executive order before the Supreme Court, though the administration’s pending petition asks that the lower court decisions be reversed so the most recently issued order can take effect.

The president concluded by saying his administration is doing “extreme vetting” of people coming into the U.S., while calling the courts “slow and political.”

The President also tweeted about the travel ban on Saturday evening as the terrorist attack in London was unfolding. Seven people died and dozens more were wounded.