President Donald Trump said Friday that he “could” simply sign a new immigration executive order, after an appeals court upheld a suspension placed on his travel ban.
Speaking to reporters on Air Force One Friday, Trump said he could scrap his old executive order. But when it comes to the courts, Trump said: “We will win that battle.”
“The unfortunate part is that it takes time statutorily, but we will win that battle,” he told reporters of the executive order, according to a pool report. “We also have a lot of other options, including just filing a brand new order.”
Trump’s immigration executive order suspended immigration and travel from seven Muslim-majority countries and the United States’ refugee program. Judge James Robart placed a temporary restraining order on the action last Friday, and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals maintained the suspension on Thursday.
Trump responded harshly to both courts, calling Robart a “so-called judge” and condemning the Ninth Circuit’s “disgraceful” decision.
Asked on Air Force One if his plan was to issue an entirely new order, Trump replied: “It very well could be. We need speed for reasons of security, so it very well could be.”
The President said he would wait until “perhaps Monday or Tuesday,” to take further action, “in honor of the [Ninth Circuit] decision.”
Trump also said, according to the same pool report, that he could simply change the existing executive order.
“New security measures,” he said, referring to potential revisions to the order. “We have very, very strong vetting. I call it extreme vetting and we’re going very strong on security. We are going to have people coming to our country that want to be here for good reason.”
