January 30, 2017

Trump Fought The Law And The Law Won (For Now)

President Donald Trump tasted his first defeat in federal court over the weekend, though the “travel ban” against specific Muslim-majority countries is not gone for good. On Sunday, while attorneys argued with customs officials, border officials defied Trump’s orders, and airports became ground zero for massive cross-country protests and confusion, Trump released a statement that insisted on the legality of his orders to temporarily halt the admission of refugees and country-specific travel. 

Of course, his statement did not acknowledge the federal judges who held emergency hearings on Saturday night and blocked parts of his orders, opening the door to a battle over the President’s constitutional powers. Awkward…

Trump’s poorly planned executive order incited international outrage and belittling from colleagues. The UK’s Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said that Trump should be blocked from making his planned state visit to the UK as long as his “Muslim ban” policy remains in place. German Chancellor Angela Merkel had to call Donald Trump and explain to him what the Geneva Conventions were. You read that correctly: the leader of Germany had to explain to the leader of the United States what those treaties of 1949 were and why we had to establish them. 

Meanwhile, Trump’s support among the GOP also seems to be dwindling. Republican Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham released a joint statement calling Trump’s executive order a “self-inflicted wound in the fight against terrorism” that “may do more to help terrorist recruitment than improve our security.” Trump responded by calling them weak.

Yes, I want to sound marginally more intelligent: