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Trump lashes out at latest travel ban ruling: 'It makes us look weak!'

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President Trump slammed a Hawaii federal judge who halted his revised travel ban from going into effect Wednesday, saying the ruling was "unprecedented judicial overreach."
"This ruling makes us look weak," Trump thundered at a rally in Nashville, Tenn., before vowing that he would "fight this terrible ruling ... as far as it needs to go, including all the way up to the Supreme Court."
A temporary restraining order issued by U.S. District Court Judge Derrick Watson was made public approximately an hour before Trump took the stage in front of a raucous crowd of placard-waving supporters.
"Let me give you the bad news, the sad news," Trump told his audience about the decision, later adding "and I have to be nice, otherwise I'll get criticized for speaking poorly about our courts."
The order before Watson on Wednesday was a revised version of an earlier order, which temporarily suspended the U.S. refugee program and barred the entry of people from six Muslim-majority countries. More than half a dozen states were attempting to prevent the latest ban from taking effect early Thursday.

"This new order was tailored to the dictates of the Ninth Circuit's, in my opinion, flawed ruling," Trump said. "This is, in the opinion of many, an unprecedented judicial overreach.
"The law and the Constitution," the president argued to a cheering crowd, "give the president the power to suspend immigration when he deems -- or she  ... deems it to be in the national interest of our country."
On Air Force One late Wednesday, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said the administration stood by the initial executive order, which was halted by the appeals court last month.
"We believed the first one was accurate," Spicer said, "[and] the second one was literally tailored to the court ruling." The spokesman said he did not know what the administration's next steps would be.
The travel ban was one of many topics Trump touched on during the campaign-style rally, including his joint effort with House Republicans to replace ObamaCare.
At one point, Trump invoked Tennessee native Andrew Jackson, a fellow populist outsider, and said the seventh president "understood that real leadership means putting America first."
Earlier Wednesday, the president laid a wreath at Andrew Jackson's tomb to mark the 250th anniversary of the former president's birth, and toured the Hermitage, Jackson's home.

"We're keeping our promises," said Trump, noting that he's more than halfway through the 100-day measure by which new presidents are judged. "And we have just gotten started. Wait till you see what's coming, folks."
On the flight back to Washington, he said he hoped to hold rallies "every two weeks. I mean, these are great people."

Tillerson: Asia allies 'critical' for addressing North Korean threat

TOKYO –  U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Thursday cooperation with allies Japan and South Korea is "critical" to addressing the threat from North Korea's nuclear and missile programs.
Tillerson was speaking as he met with Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida on his first trip to Asia as the top U.S. diplomat.
North Korea is expected to top the agenda at Tillerson's talks in Tokyo. Last week, North Korea test-fired four missiles that landed in ocean off Japan.
Tillerson will meet later Thursday with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Japan and South Korea both host tens of thousands of U.S. troops. Washington has been urging the two nations to step security cooperation despite their historically strained relations. This week, the nations' three navies have conducted missile defense information-sharing drills in the region
Tillerson said that strengthening U.S. relations with Japan and trilateral cooperation among all three "is critical in particular as we address North Korea's nuclear and missile programs."
Kishida said the fact that Japan was Tillerson's first stop showed the importance Washington attaches to the relationship. He said the U.S. and Japan had an "unwavering bond."
On Friday, Tillerson travels to South Korea, where U.S. forces are engaged in annual military drills that have angered Pyongyang.
He then goes to China. Washington wants Beijing to exert more pressure on North Korea over its provocative behavior.

Federal judge in Hawaii halts Trump travel ban

President Trump's revised travel ban was put on hold Wednesday by a federal judge in Hawaii just hours before it was set to take effect after hearing arguments that the executive order discriminates on the basis of nationality.
Trump addressed the judge’s move during a rally in Nashville, Tennessee calling it “unprecedented judicial overreach” and vowed to fight.
"We're going to win. We're going to keep our citizens safe," Trump said. "The danger is clear. The law is clear. The need for my executive order is clear."
The ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Derrick Watson prevents the executive order from going into effect, at least for now. Hawaii had requested a temporary restraining order.
"Enforcement of these provisions in all places, including the United States, at all United States borders and ports of entry, and in the issuance of visas is prohibited, pending further orders from this Court," Watson wrote in his ruling.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL RULING.
In a statement released late Wednesday night the Department of Justice said they strongly disagreed with the ruling and called the move "flawed both in reasoning and scope."
"The President’s Executive Order falls squarely within his lawful authority in seeking to protect our Nation’s security, and the Department will continue to defend this Executive Order in the courts," said DOJ Spokesperson Sarah Isgur Flores.
The ruling came as opponents renewed their legal challenges across the country, asking judges in three states to block the executive order that targets people from six predominantly Muslim countries.
More than half a dozen states are trying to stop the ban, and federal courts in Maryland, Washington state and Hawaii heard arguments about whether it should be put into practice early Thursday.
Hawaii also argued to the court that the ban would prevent residents from receiving visits from relatives in the six countries covered by the order. The state says the ban would harm its tourism industry and the ability to recruit foreign students and workers.
Senator Mazie K. Hirono, D-Hawaii, welcomed the ruling and said “Judge Watson exemplifies the importance of an independent judiciary.”
Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard called the travel ban "bad policy" and praised Attorney General Doug Chin for stopping the order.
In Maryland, attorneys told a federal judge that the measure still discriminates against Muslims.

More on this...

• New Trump travel ban can't be enforced on Syrian family trying to flee to Wisconsin, judge says

• Legal challenges to Trump's travel ban mount from US states

• Hawaii sues to block Trump's revised travel ban

Government attorneys argued that the ban was revised substantially to address legal concerns, including the removal of an exemption for religious minorities from the affected countries.
"It doesn't say anything about religion. It doesn't draw any religious distinctions," Jeffrey Wall, who argued for the Justice Department, said in court.
Attorneys for the ACLU and other groups said that Trump's statements on the campaign trail and statements from his advisers since he took office make clear that the intent of the ban is to ban Muslims.
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman called the order "yet another victory."
"President Trump's second executive order is just a Muslim Ban by another name - with the same unlawful and unconstitutional goal of discriminating based on religion and national origin," he said in a statement.
Trump policy adviser Stephen Miller has previously said the revised order was designed to have "the same basic policy outcome" as the first.
The latest version of the ban details more of a national security rationale. It is narrower and eases some concerns about violating the due-process rights of travelers, appyling only to new visas from Somalia, Iran, Syria, Sudan, Libya and Yemen and temporarily shuts down the U.S. refugee program. It does not apply to travelers who already have visas.
"Generally, courts defer on national security to the government," said U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang. "Do I need to conclude that the national security purpose is a sham and false?"
In response, ACLU attorney Omar Jadwat pointed to Miller's statement and said the government had put out misleading and contradictory information about whether banning travel from six specific countries would make the nation safer.
The Maryland lawsuit also argues that it's against federal law for the Trump administration to reduce the number of refugees allowed into the United States this year by more than half, from 110,000 to 50,000. Attorneys argued that if that aspect of the ban takes effect, 60,000 people would be stranded in war-torn countries with nowhere else to go.
In the Hawaii case, the federal government said there was no need to issue an emergency restraining order because Hawaii officials offered only "generalized allegations" of harm.
Jeffrey Wall of the Office of the Solicitor General challenged Hawaii's claim that the order violates due-process rights of Ismail Elshikh as a U.S. citizen who wants his mother-in-law to visit his family from Syria. He says courts have not extended due-process rights outside of a spousal relationship.
Neal Katyal, a Washington, D.C., attorney representing Hawaii, called the story of Elshiskh, an Egyptian immigrant and naturalized U.S. citizen, "the story of America."

Wall told the judge that if he is inclined to issue an injunction, it should be tailored specifically to Hawaii and not nationwide.
In Washington state, U.S. District Judge James Robart -- who halted the original ban last month -- heard arguments in a lawsuit brought by the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, which is making arguments similar to the ACLU's in the Maryland case.
Robart said he is most interested in two questions presented by the group's challenge to the ban: whether the ban violates federal immigration law, and whether the affected immigrants would be "irreparably harmed" should the ban go into effect.
He spent much of Wednesday afternoon's hearing grilling the lawyers about two seeming conflicting federal laws on immigration -- one which gives the president the authority to keep "any class of aliens" out of the country, and another that forbids the government from discriminating on the basis of nationality when it comes to issuing immigrant visas.
Robart said he would issue a written order, but he did not say when. He is also overseeing the challenge brought by Washington state.
Attorney General Bob Ferguson argues that the new order harms residents, universities and businesses, especially tech companies such as Washington state-based Microsoft and Amazon, which rely on foreign workers. California, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York and Oregon have joined the claim.
Washington and Hawaii say the order also violates the First Amendment, which bars the government from favoring or disfavoring any religion. On that point, they say, the new ban is no different than the old. The states' First Amendment claim has not been resolved.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals refused to reinstate the original ban but did not rule on the discrimination claim.

EPA, State Department prepare for cuts under Trump's budget, report says

President Trump’s budget plan for fiscal 2018 increases defense spending and cuts funding for the Environmental Protection Agency and the State Department, Reuters reported, citing a congressional source.
Trump's first budget-- which is set to be released on Thursday at 7 a.m. ET-- will reportedly cut 28 percent out of the State Department's funding and about 31 percent from the EPA, which The New York Times reported is arguably the hardest hit.
Scott Pruitt, the EPA administrator, who at times has spoken out against the agency, reportedly asked the White House for about $7 billion in funding, but was denied. The White house reportedly cut the funding futher to $5.7 billion.
VIDEO: PREVIEWING TRUMP'S PROPOSED BUDGET
The saved money is expected to cover an anticipated $54 billion increase in Defense Department spending and a small increase to homeland security.
Although Republicans control both the House and the Senate, Trump’s “skinny budget” is likely to face political hurdles. Last month, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., called Trump’s original plan to cut the State Department’s budget by 37 percent “dead on arrival.” Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has also criticized the cuts to the State Department.
Roughly $1 trillion of Trump’s overall estimated $4 trillion annual federal budget goes to Cabinet agencies and departments.
The specific details of the programs or jobs that are on the chopping block are not released until well after the initial budget is submitted. The House appropriations subcommittees reviewed Trump’s plan late Wednesday.
The Times reported that members said there is to be cuts to decades-old food programs for poor countries and the complete elimination of the Department of Transportation’s Essential Air Service program, which reportedly subsidizes flight to rural airports in the country.
SENATE DEMOCRATS THREATEN GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN
The Times reported that the cuts are expected to affect Amtrak and public education. The plan will reportedly phase out federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Mick Mulvaney, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, told Fox News that the budget was written using Trump's “own words” during the campaign. He said the plan does not balance the budget, but it also does not add to the deficit. Mulvaney said the budget will include $1.5 billion for the border wall, as a starting point.
A former OMB official told Reuters that the Trump administration is really “cutting into bone.” Maya MacGuineas, the president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, told Reuters that Trump’s budget is unusually skinny, possibly “emaciated.”