Appeals court refuses to reinstate Donald Trump's travel ban
10 February
Donald Trump's travel ban on citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries has been dealt a major blow as three federal appeals court judges prevented its reinstatement.
Trump's lawyers "didn't even really try to make their case", says BBC Washington correspondent Anthony Zurcher, choosing instead to argue to the court that "the president's authority on immigration was so sweeping that they didn't have to explain why the order was necessary".
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That argument was rejected outright by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
"It is beyond question that the federal judiciary retains the authority to adjudicate constitutional challenges to executive action," it ruled.
Trump responded via Twitter as soon as the court's ruling was announced.
His reaction suggests the administration will now take the case to the Supreme Court.
However, "the unanimous ruling suggests that the Trump administration will struggle to make a convincing argument", The Guardian says.
With Trump's nominee for the vacant position on the Supreme Court bench yet to be confirmed, it is possible the judges could deadlock on the issue and "leave the appeals court ruling in place", the New York Times says.
One China
Meanwhile, Trump has told Chinese President Xi Jinping that he will honour the One China policy, a move the Financial Times says will "ease tensions between the powers".
Under the policy, the US recognises Beijing, rather than Taipei, as the seat of the Chinese government.
It comes two months after Trump spoke to Tsai Ing-wen, the Taiwanese president - the first conversation between a US president and Taiwanese leader since 1979. China accused the US of interfering in its domestic affairs.
Today, Trump welcomes Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to the White House.
"The significance of this phone call before the visit of Prime Minister Abe cannot be overstated," Dennis Wilder, a former top China analyst at the CIA, told the FT.
"The Chinese had sought reassurance that President Trump did not intend to overturn a fundamental principle underpinning US-China relations and north-east Asian geostrategic stability for the past four decades - the One China policy."
US court grills Donald Trump lawyer over 'Muslim ban'
8 February
The US Court of Appeals is considering the legality of President Donald Trump's executive order temporarily suspending entry to the country for people from seven majority-Muslim countries.
At the heart of the issue is whether Trump exceeded his authority by issuing the blanket ban on visas for anyone from Iran, Iraq, Yemen, Somalia, Sudan, Libya and Syria. Judges will also rule on whether the order was unjustified and discriminatory.
Justice Department lawyer August E Flentje, representing the administration, faced "aggressive questioning" from the three-judge panel, says the Washington Post.
Although nobody from the affected countries has carried out a fatal terrorist attack in the US, Flentje said Congress had identified these nations as having a problem with terrorism during Barack Obama's time in office.
He added that the court should not infringe on President Trump's control over national security issues.
The judges "appeared to dismiss the administration's arguments that neither the states nor the courts have the authority to challenge the executive order", the Los Angeles Times reports, with one calling the evidence of national security risk "pretty abstract".
However, they also had tough questions for Washington state solicitor general Noah Purcell, who is representing the case against the ban.
The legal challenge argues the executive order is discriminatory to Muslims, but one judge questioned whether it was appropriate to "infer religious animus" when the ban affects a comparatively small portion of believers.
Trump's executive order bars all visitors from the seven countries from entering the US for 90 days and indefinitely suspends entry for Syrian refugees. Its sudden enforcement last week left tens of thousands of people stranded, their travel plans in disarray, and caused worldwide anger.
It was suspended last weekend by Seattle district judge James Robart, who said it would have an "adverse effect" on residents of Washington state.
In an angry tweet, branding Robart a "so-called judge", Trump vowed to get the suspension overturned and took the case to the Court of Appeals.
The judges, mindful of the limbo in which travellers from the seven affected countries are currently held, have indicated they will hand down a ruling as soon as possible, "probably this week".
Whatever the outcome, the battle is almost certain to reach the Supreme Court, says the New York Times. But with one seat still vacant following the death of Antonin Scalia, the final verdict from the evenly split bench of four liberal and four conservative judges is anything but predictable.
Trump vs the judges: What next for the travel ban?
6 February
Donald Trump's attempt to have his travel ban on seven Muslim-majority countries immediately reinstated was rejected by the US judiciary yesterday, setting up a confrontation that could end in the US Supreme Court.
The ban, which affects visitors and refugees from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, was halted by federal Judge James Robart on Friday and remains suspended until the full case is heard.
The Department of Justice lodged an appeal the following day, arguing the ruling "second-guesses the President's national security judgment" and put the country in immediate danger.
That was rejected by a San Francisco court in the early hours of Sunday. Washington state and the Trump administration are to file further arguments this afternoon.
Trump launched a personal attack against Robart on Twitter, referring to him as a "so-called" judge and dismissing his opinion as "ridiculous".
Senate Minority Leader Charles E Schumer of New York said the tweet "shows a disdain for an independent judiciary that doesn't always bend to [the President's] wishes".
However, Vice President Mike Pence told NBC News Trump has "every right to criticise" the other two branches of government.
"I think people find it very refreshing that they not only understand this president's mind, but they understand how he feels," he said.
What now?
While the political and legal wrangling continues, airlines are allowing travellers with valid visas and green cards who had previously been barred from the country to board flights to the US.
"The government has dragged its feet on complying with (or simply violated) previous orders that attempted to limit the ban - but it looks like it's complying with Judge Robart's ruling," says Vox.
Advocacy groups have advised those affected to book flights back to the US as soon as possible, as it remains unclear how long the suspension will last.
The BBC's Anthony Zurcher says that if the appeal court backs the suspension, which could happen within days, then it is "almost certain" the case will go on to the Supreme Court.
However, "if it looks like this is bogging down, the president might eventually decide to modify the order rather than try to defend its legality - that's probably the most prudent course, but he's a stubborn man".
Donald Trump slams Australian PM over 'dumb' refugee deal
2 February
Donald Trump has been accused of jeopardising international relations after berating Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in a tense phone call which ended with the US President hanging up after 25 minutes.
A conversation with one of the US's staunchest allies "should have been one of the most congenial calls for the new commander in chief", says the Washington Post, which first reported the story. Instead, Saturday's call was "hostile and charged".
The tension stemmed from an arrangement made under Barack Obama under which the US will resettle up to 1,250 of the 2,500 asylum-seekers currently held in offshore Australian detention centres on Manus Island and Nauru.
Trump did not mince his words with the Aussie PM, branding the agreement the "worst deal ever" and accusing Australia of attempting to export the "next Boston bombers".
He reportedly ended the exchange by saying he had spoken to four world leaders that day and that Turnbull was the "worst by far", before abruptly hanging up the phone.
Despite subsequent assurances from Washington that the resettlement would proceed as agreed, Trump threw the future of the deal into doubt again this morning, tweeting he would "study this dumb deal".
The US President's tweet also wrongly claimed the asylum-seekers were "illegal immigrants" – it is not illegal to seek asylum in another country.
"Turnbull was forced into damage control by the chaotic messaging from Washington," says the Sydney Morning Herald.
The Prime Minister insisted the refugee deal would go ahead and described his conversation as "frank and forthright".
The talk had lasted an hour rather than the 25 minutes reported, he said, and Trump had not hung up on him.
However, Australian government sources said the Washington Post's account was "substantially accurate" and that the call had been "shorter than expected".
The row is now "threatening to develop into a diplomatic rift" which could "drive Canberra closer to China", says the New York Times.
Although the leak "vindicates Turnbull's hitherto lame protest to have acted strongly in Australia's interests", says Sydney Morning Herald political correspondent Mark Kenny, Trump's contemptuous response presents "the risk of sustained damage to the US-Australian relationship".
Australia's former ambassador to the US, Kim Beazley, came to a similar conclusion, telling the New York Times that the substance of the call was less important than the attitude it revealed.
"If the tonality is true, you wouldn't want to have too many conversations like that," he said.
Donald Trump picks Conservative Neil Gorsuch for Supreme Court role
1 February
US President Donald Trump has picked Colorado federal appeals court judge Neil Gorsuch as his nominee to fill a vacancy on the Supreme Court that has remained open since the death of Antonin Scalia last year.
Gorsuch, 49, is the youngest nominee for a position on the Supreme Court, where – once their nominations are confirmed – justices remain for life.
Vice President Mike Pence describes him as "one of the most mainstream, respected and exceptionally qualified Supreme Court nominees in American history", while Trump says his academic credentials are "as good as I have ever seen".
The Guardian says Gorsuch is "a strict adherent of judicial restraint known for sharply written opinions and bedrock conservative views", who will tip the balance of the Supreme Court towards a more conservative outlook.
Trump's choice "in particular will likely hearten conservative activists and Republican members of Congress alike", says The Atlantic.
Gorsuch's nomination "won extravagant praise from Republicans and conservatives", the Washington Post says, but he will face a battle to secure the 60 votes necessary in the Senate to approve his appointment. Republicans hold 52 seats in the Senate.
"Senate Democrats now must decide how far they are willing to go in opposing Judge Gorsuch," the New York Times says, "particularly after Senate Republicans refused to even give a hearing to president Barack Obama's last Supreme Court nominee, Judge Merrick B Garland."
Republican senators had blocked the appointment of Garland, claiming that it was too close to an election for an outgoing president to be making such a major decision.
Democratic Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer said he has "very serious doubts" over Gorsuch's appointment, saying the judge had "repeatedly sided with corporations over working people", and "demonstrated a hostility toward women's rights".
Why Donald Trump fired his acting attorney general Sally Yates
1 February
Donald Trump has fired his acting attorney general for refusing to defend his executive order closing the US to people from seven Muslim-majority countries.
Sally Yates, who was a deputy attorney general under Barack Obama, told Justice Department lawyers not to present arguments in defence of the policy.
"Ms Yates's order was a remarkable rebuke by a government official to a sitting president," says the New York Times. "It recalled the so-called Saturday Night Massacre in 1973, when President Richard M Nixon fired his attorney general and deputy attorney general for refusing to dismiss the special prosecutor in the Watergate case."
The White House said Yates had "betrayed the Department of Justice by refusing to enforce a legal order designed to protect the citizens of the United States".
It added: "Ms Yates is an Obama administration appointee who is weak on borders and very weak on illegal immigration."
Yates's dismissal comes during a deepening crisis for the Trump administration over the travel ban, including a rebuke from former president Barack Obama and a backlash from US officials around the world.
Reports suggest that up to 100 diplomats are preparing to submit a memo to the State Department criticising Trump's travel ban. White House press secretary Sean Spicer said they "should get with the programme or they can go".
Yates has been replaced by the US attorney for East Virginia, Dana Boente, who told the Washington Post he "will agree to enforce the immigration order".
Boente will remain as acting attorney general until Trump's permanent pick for the position, Jeff Sessions, is confirmed by the Senate.
"Monday's events have transformed the confirmation of Mr Sessions into a referendum on Mr Trump's immigration order," says the New York Times. "Action in the Senate could come as early as Tuesday."
Donald Trump aide calls immigration ban a 'massive success story'
30 January
A senior US administration official says the implementation of Donald Trump's temporary ban on immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries is a "massive success story".
Despite protests and outcry from around the world, the aide said the ban had been implemented "seamlessly and with extraordinary professionalism".
"It really is a massive success story in terms of implementation on every single level," the official said.
Trump himself has insisted that the ban is necessary and not motivated by prejudice against Islam. "This is not about religion," he said. "This is about terror and keeping our country safe."
The US would be "issuing visas to all countries once we are sure we have reviewed and implemented the most secure policies over the next 90 days", he said.
An executive order signed by Trump on Friday halted the entire US refugee programme and instituted a 90-day entry ban for nationals from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
Protests broke out at airports across the US after hundreds of people were left stranded when their visas were revoked at the last minute.
On Saturday, a US federal judge in Brooklyn issued a temporary halt to the deportation of visa holders or refugees stranded at airports, but stopped short of letting them into the country "or issuing a broader ruling on the constitutionality of Trump's actions", says the New York Times. According to 16 state attorneys, the ban is unconstitutional.
The UK government is coming under pressure to cancel a state visit by Trump to the UK later this year in protest. A petition suggesting the US President should not meet the Queen has amassed more than 950,000 signatures, meaning it must be debated in parliament.
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson called the immigration clampdown "divisive" and said it was "wrong to stigmatise" people on the basis of nationality. This follows similar condemnation from other Conservative MPs, the Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, the Lib Dem leader Tim Farron and the London Mayor Sadiq Khan.
Prime Minister Theresa May was "sharply criticised around the world" for her refusal to condemn the order when asked about it during a trip to Turkey, reports The Independent. It was not until midnight on Saturday that Downing Street issued a statement saying May "does not agree" with the ban.
Some of the fiercest criticism came from within her own party after it appeared that Tory MP Nadhim Zahawi had been banned from travelling to the US because he was born in Baghdad. Britain's Olympic gold medal-winner Sir Mo Farah, who lives in the US, also appeared to be barred.
Writing on Facebook, Farah said: "On 1 January this year, Her Majesty The Queen made me a Knight of the Realm. On 27 January, President Donald Trump seems to have made me an alien."
It later emerged the Foreign Secretary had "won assurances" that UK citizens affected, including Farah, could continue to "enter freely", reports The Times.
In a sign that the administration's position might be softening, Trump's chief of staff, Rince Preibus, last night "appeared to reverse a key part of Trump's immigration order, saying that people from the affected countries who held green cards will not be prevented from returning to the US", adds the newspaper.
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