President Trump early Monday made clear the intent of a blocked executive order on immigration now being appealed to the Supreme Court.
“People, the lawyers and the courts can call it whatever they want, but I am calling it what we need and what it is, a TRAVEL BAN!” he tweeted.
Trump also said in a series of tweets that the Department of Justice (DOJ) should have fought for his original order, instead of the “watered down, politically correct version” submitted to the Supreme Court.
He said the DOJ should ask for an expedited Supreme Court hearing for the “watered down Travel Ban” and then seek a “much tougher version.”
Trump in his final tweet on the subject said his administration is “EXTREME VETTING” people now coming into the U.S.
“The courts are slow and political!” he added.
{mosads}Administration officials had rejected the characterization of Trump’s executive order as a travel ban, instead saying it was a vetting system to keep America safe.
Trump over the weekend reignited the debate over the topic following a London terror attack in which seven people were killed and almost 50 others injured.
In a tweet on Saturday, Trump renewed his call for the courts to approve his revised executive order, which would temporarily bar nationals from six predominately Muslim countries from entering the U.S. and suspend the acceptance of refugees for 120 days.
“We need to be smart, vigilant and tough,” Trump said. “We need the courts to give us back our rights. We need the Travel Ban as an extra level of safety!”
The Trump administration issued its original travel ban in January. That order, which was blocked by the courts, was met with backlash and protests across the country.
The president then issued a revised ban in March aimed at defusing the controversy and defeating court challenges.
Last week, the Trump administration appealed lower-court decisions to block the revised ban to the Supreme Court.
In a statement last week, Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores said the department had “asked the Supreme Court to hear this important case and [is] confident that President Trump’s executive order is well within his lawful authority to keep the nation safe and protect our communities from terrorism.”
“The president is not required to admit people from countries that sponsor or shelter terrorism,” the statement said, “until he determines that they can be properly vetted and do not pose a security risk to the United States.”
Over the weekend, some Republicans echoed the president’s renewed calls for his travel ban following the London attack, while other lawmakers appeared to disagree with Trump and instead called for inclusion and community.
— Rebecca Savransky contributed to this report, which was last updated at 7:16 a.m.