--- title: Travel Ban: Donald Trump's Own Words Hurt Executive Order description: President Trump's loose lips may have sunk his own travel ban, again. canonical: https://time.com/4703614/travel-ban-judges-donald-trump-words/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-03-16T15:45:11.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-07T07:20:43.409Z article:section: Politics og:title: President Trump's Own Words Keep Hurting His Travel Ban og:description: A federal judge cited these quotes when putting a restraining order on the ban. og:url: https://time.com/4703614/travel-ban-judges-donald-trump-words/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbfa67fee993ba55f/6988be9acd1bbaa9de70454e/gettyimages-653578004.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: President Trump Speaks At American Center For Mobility In Ypsilanti, Michigan og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Trump's Own Words Keep Hurting His Travel Ban twitter:description: A federal judge cited these quotes when putting a restraining order on the ban. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbfa67fee993ba55f/6988be9acd1bbaa9de70454e/gettyimages-653578004.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Trump's Own Words Keep Hurting His Travel 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=1dbd0c30-f93f-4140-a0ef-3b8c27c5ff0b&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Trump Blasts "Unprecedented Judicial Overreach" by Courts Blocking Travel Ban [Watch (HLS stream): Trump Blasts "Unprecedented Judicial Overreach" by Courts Blocking Travel Ban](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/YXVzCjMm.m3u8) (1:45)  _Published 2017-03-16. President Trump blasted a federal judge’s temporary restraining order preventing the enforcement of key sections of his latest travel ban, calling it “an unprecedented judicial overreach.”_ by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Mar 16, 2017 3:45 PM UTC by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Mar 16, 2017 3:45 PM UTC President Trump’s loose lips may have sunk his own travel ban, again. In placing a temporary restraining order on the [revised version](http://time.com/4703177/donald-trump-travel-ban-immigration-hawaii-judge/) of a Trump executive order restricting entry from Muslim majority countries, a federal judge in Hawaii [cited quotes](http://time.com/4703390/president-trumps-words-hurt-his-travel-ban/) from [several TV and print interviews](http://time.com/4703232/trump-travel-ban-stephen-miller-rudy-giuliani/) of Trump and his surrogates. “These plainly-worded 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,” [wrote District Judge Derrick Watson](https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/3518057/Order.pdf). A second federal judge in Maryland made a similar case on Thursday in a second restraining order. “These statements, which include explicit, diret statements of President Trump’s animus towards Muslims and intention to impose a ban on Muslims entering the United States, present a convincing case that the First Executive Order was issued to accomplish, as nearly as possible, President Trump’s promised Muslim ban,” [wrote District Judge Theodore D. Chuang](http://apps.washingtonpost.com/g/documents/national/read-the-federal-judges-ruling-in-md-on-trumps-revised-travel-ban/2377/). Although the judges cited several quotes, three in particular seemed to cause problems by suggesting that the first and second executive orders stem from the same motive as Trump’s campaign proposal to bar Muslims. Trump’s response to the restraining order may end up causing even more trouble down the road. Here’s a look at the three key quotes from Trump and his allies that hurt the ban. **‘A total and complete shutdown’** **Quote:** “Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on.” **Source:** [Press release from the Trump campaign](https://www.donaldjtrump.com/press-releases/donald-j.-trump-statement-on-preventing-muslim-immigration), Dec. 7, 2015 **Why it matters:** Trump’s original idea for a travel ban was targeted entirely at Muslims, something the executive order’s critics say is a clear violation of constitutional guarantees of freedom of religion. **‘Show me the right way to do it’** **Quote:** “So when he first announced it, he said ‘Muslim ban.’ He called me up. He said, ‘Put a commission together. Show me the right way to do it legally.'” **Source:** [Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani in an interview on Fox News](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/01/29/trump-asked-for-a-muslim-ban-giuliani-says-and-ordered-a-commission-to-do-it-legally/?utm%5Fterm=.62393e18f981), Jan. 29, 2017 **Why it matters:** Trump’s first executive order barring travel from seven Muslim-majority countries was narrower than a Muslim ban, but Watson cited this quote to argue its motive was the same. **‘The same basic policy outcome’** **Quote:** “Fundamentally, you’re still going to have the same basic policy outcome for the country, but you’re going to be responsive to a lot of very technical issues what were brought up by the court.” **Source:** [White House policy advisor Stephen Miller in an interview with Fox News](http://theweek.com/speedreads/681568/stephen-miller-says-trumps-new-travel-ban-fundamentally-same-first-travel-ban), Feb. 21, 2017 **Why it matters:** Trump’s revised executive order attempts to address judicial criticism of the first order, but Watson highlighted this quote to note it was coming from the same place. Trump doesn’t seem to have learned his lesson, either. [Speaking at a campaign rally in Nashville](http://www.cnbc.com/2017/03/15/trump-may-have-just-dealt-a-blow-to-his-own-executive-order.html) on Wednesday night, he blasted “judicial overreach” and argued that the revised travel ban was just a “watered-down version of the first one.” Norm Eisen, a former ethics lawyer in the Obama White House who is a critic of Trump, said that quote in particular was [“digging a grave”](https://twitter.com/NormEisen/status/842172209758101504) for the revised travel ban and might even hurt a future attempt. ## Transcript A judge has just blocked our executive order on travel and refugees coming into our country from certain countries. [ NOISE ] The order he blocked Was a watered- down version of the first order that was also blocked by another judge and should have never been blocked to start with. [ BLANK_AUDIO ] This new order was tailored To the dictates of the 9th Circuit's, in my opinion, flawed ruling. [ APPLAUSE ] This is, in the opinion of many, An unprecedented judicial overreach. Hundreds of refugees are under federal investigation for terrorism and related reasons. [ APPLAUSE ] We have entire regions of the world destabilized By terrorism and ISIS. For this issue, I issued an executive order to temporarily suspend immigration from places where it cannot safely occur. We're gonna fight this terrible ruling. We're going to take our case as far as it needs to go, including all the way up to the Supreme Court, [ APPLAUSE ] We're going to win, we're going to keep our citizens safe and regardless, we're going to keep our citizens safe. Believe me. 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