Donald Trump may order new travel ban tomorrow

Washington: US President Donald Trump is expected to sign a new refugee and immigration executive order on Wednesday, a day after addressing legislators at a joint session of Congress. That’s according to a senior administration official.

Mr Trump initially planned to sign the new order last week, but spokesperson Sean Spicer said the President was holding off “to make sure that when we execute this, it’s done in a manner that’s flawless”.

The President’s initial order temporarily halting all entries into the US from seven Muslim-majority countries was blocked by a federal judge. Mr Trump has vigorously criticised the decision.

The administration official was not authorised to discuss the rollout of the new order publicly and insisted on anonymity. 

Meanwhile, the phones of White House staffers have been checked under a crackdown after information was leaked to the press about private conversations and meetings in the Trump administration, according to a media report. Quoting sources, Politico reported that the incident comes a week after Mr Trump criticised the media for using unnamed sources and expressed frustration with the unauthorised sharing of information.