--- description: The Trump Administration can't decide whether barring travelers from seven majority-Muslim countries is a travel ban or not. title: Trump's Team Can't Decide Whether the Travel Ban Is a 'Ban' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt41149af58dfa60b8/6988b7b9428a9e8933cd5aa2/trump-muslim-ban.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [White House](/tag/white-house/) ## White House Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # President Trump's Team Can't Decide Whether the Travel Ban Is a 'Ban' by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 1, 2017 6:25 PM CUT by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 1, 2017 6:25 PM CUT 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/ "undefined") 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 "undefined"). “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/ "undefined")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. The executive order signed by Trump imposes a four-month travel ban on refugees","creditText":"Carlos Barria—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4656807/travel-ban-white-house-wording/","name":"President Trump's Team Can't Decide Whether the Travel Ban Is a 'Ban'"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"This Video Is No Longer Available","description":"The Trump Administration can't decide whether barring travelers from seven majority-Muslim countries is a travel ban or not.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/fKodeUO6/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2026-06-23T15:00:44.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/fKodeUO6.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4656807/travel-ban-white-house-wording/","duration":"PT10S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4656807/travel-ban-white-house-wording/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```