Donald Trump mulling options before appealing against travel ban halt

During the course of an interview, Trump also said that a second executive order might be needed

The Trump administration will not immediately appeal the federal appeals court decision blocking the travel ban in the Supreme Court as the White House is examining several options to revamp and save the controversial executive order on immigration.

"We will win that battle. The unfortunate part is that it takes time statutorily, but we will win that battle. We also have a lot of other options, including just filing a brand new order," the CNN quoted Trump as saying to reporters onboard Air Force One Friday evening.

Asked if his plan might be to issue a new executive order, he said: "It very well could be. We need speed for reasons of security, so it very well could be."

 

After a San Francisco federal appeals court on Thursday upheld the suspension of his the immigration order that banned citizens of seven majority-Muslim countries from entering the United States, the White House is working on "possible tweaks" to the executive order, according to a source in close contact with the White House on national security issues.

Should it write a new order, it would be more narrowly tailored than the one issued two weeks ago, the source said, such as explicitly stating that it does not apply to legal permanent residents.

"We are reviewing all of our options in the court system and confident we will prevail on the merits of the case," said an administration official.