In an unprecedented move, former US president Barack Obama has spoken out against his successor Donald Trump's immigration ban.
Obama, who left office less than two weeks ago, said he was "heartened" by the protests against the latest executive order barring people from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the US.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Although others, including Democrats and activists, have spoken against the "extreme vetting measures", it is rare for a former president to criticise his successors - much less just ten days out of office, says the Daily Telegraph.
It "indicated that Mr Obama felt compelled to speak out swiftly against what he sees as a misguided start to a new administration", says the New York Times.
Customarily, outgoing presidents and their administrations allow some form of grace period to their replacement. However, Obama warned at his last press conference on 18 January that he would not be afraid to speak out against the new administration if he thought "the nations ideals were under threat".
Trump's executive order bans people from Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen from entering the US for 90 days and halts refuges from entering the country for 120 days. Syrian refugees will be banned from the US indefinitely.
Britons with dual citizenship are exempt.
It has been greeted with protests across the US and in the UK.
-
The return to the stone age in house buildingUnder the Radar With brick building becoming ‘increasingly unsustainable’, could a reversion to stone be the future?
-
Rob Jetten: the centrist millennial set to be the Netherlands’ next prime ministerIn the Spotlight Jetten will also be the country’s first gay leader
-
Codeword: November 4, 2025The Week's daily codeword puzzle
-
Trump to partly fund SNAP as shutdown talks progressSpeed Read The administration has said it will cover about 50% of benefits
-
Trump’s White House ballroom: a threat to the republic?Talking Point Trump be far from the first US president to leave his mark on the Executive Mansion, but to critics his remodel is yet more overreach
-
‘Not every social scourge is an act of war’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Pentagon unable to name boat strike casualtiesSpeed Read The Pentagon has so far acknowledged 14 strikes
-
41 political cartoons for October 2025Cartoons Editorial cartoonists take on Donald Trump, ICE, Stephen Miller, the government shutdown, a peace plan in the Middle East, Jeffrey Epstein, and more.
-
Trump limits refugees mostly to white South AfricansSpeed Read The administration is capping the number of refugees at 7,500
-
Judge rules US attorney ‘unlawfully serving’Speed Read Bill Essayli had been serving in the role without Senate confirmation
-
Trump ends Asia trip with Xi meeting, nuke threatSpeed Read Trump had spent the last six days in Asia
