- PRESIDENT TRUMP: And I really don’t change my position very much.
2. TRUMP: You know if you were a Christian in Syria, it was impossible, at least very very tough to get into the United States. If you were a Muslim, you could come in.
FOX: In 2016, almost as many Christian refugees were admitted as Muslims.
3. KELLYANNE CONWAY: The number 1 source of income into Mexico are Mexicans working here and sending the money back
TEXT: Office of US Trade Representative: Exports to Mexico: $267.2 billion.
Pew Research Center: U.S. remittances to Mexico: $24.3 billion
SATURDAY, JAN. 28
4. REPORTER: Is it a Muslim ban?
TRUMP: Totally. No it’s not a Muslim ban but we’re totally prepared.
RUDI GIULIANI: When he first announced it, he said ‘Muslim ban. He called me up, he said, ‘Put a commission together, show me the right way to do it legally.
5. TRUMP: We are totally prepared. It’s working out very nicely. You see it at the airports, you see it all over. It’s working out very nicely.
SEN. PORTMAN: You have an extreme vetting proposal that didn’t get the vetting that it should have had and as a result, in the implementation we’ve seen some problems.
SUNDAY, JAN. 29
6. SPICER: Well he is a former naval officer. Having the chief strategist in those meetings, who has a significant military background, to help make, guide the President’s final analysis is going to be crucial
CNN: He doesn’t have any real experience, he was in the navy. But any real military experience in terms of policy, he doesn’t have it.
7. FOX: Did the White House expect that there would be such a profound reaction to the President’s executive action here?
STEPHEN MILLER: Well I think what you’re seeing is a small reaction from a small number of people that is outside of the amount of coverage that it is getting.
THE INDEPENDENT: Donald Trump’s Muslim ban inspires mass protests across the United States involving millions of Americans
8. CONWAY: It’s a routine screening process that they’ll go through.
TRUMP: And we’re going to have a very, very strict ban and we’re going to have extreme vetting.
9. CONWAY: This is a ban on travel, on prospective travel from countries trying to prevent terrorists in this country, from countries that have a recent history of training and exporting and harboring terrorists.
REP. MOULTON : Look not a single terrorist who has had an attack in America has come from one of these seven countries.
10. TRUMP FACEBOOK POST: My policy is similar to what President Obama did in 2011
FOREIGN POLICY: Sorry, Mr. President: The Obama Administration Did Nothing Similar to Your Immigration Ban
MONDAY, JAN. 30
11. SPICER: By and large he’s been praised for it. The President recognized the tremendous loss of life that came from the Holocaust.
HAARETZ: Top Republican Jewish Groups Clam Trump’s Omission of Jews From Holocaust Statement
12. SPICER: It’s a shame that people were inconvenienced, but at the end of the day, you’re talking about a couple of hours. I would rather, you know, I’m sorry that some folks may have had to wait a little while.
LOS ANGELES TIMES: Iraqi refugee and cancer patient describes her six-hour detention at LAX over Trump order.
WJAC: ACLU: 3 detained overnight after travel ban freed
NEW YORK MAGAZINE: 24 hours at JFK: The Hour-By-Hour Account of Two Iraqis Detainment and Release
13. SPICER: The makeup of the principals committee from 2017 is exactly as it was in both 2017 as it was in 2001. 100 percent identical except we aed the word also.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ): The appointment of Mr. Bannon is a radical departure from any National Security Council in history.
TUESDAY, JAN. 31
14) KEVIN MCALEENAN, Acting Commissioner, U.S. Customs & Border Protection: As soon as the court order was received, and they advised us on the implications. We put a complete hold on anyone being removed in connection with the executive order.
THE INDEPENDENT: Border agents are ignoring federal court orders and still deporting people, lawyers say
15. SPICER: The people that he appoints and nominates and announces as staff members or cabinet level members or agency heads, their job is to fulfill that, and they shouldn’t take the job. But It is the president’s agenda that we are fulfilling here.
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE WEBSITE: Our mission statement: To enforce the law and defend the interests of the United States according to the law
16. SPICER: The president has done a tremendous amount through what he has said and done and more importantly to start to bring this country together, and his policies, frankly, are focused on keeping every American safe.
REUTERS: Exclusive: Trump To focus counter-extremism program solely on Islam — sources…would no longer target groups such as white supremacists…
17. REPORTER: You said earlier, if you’re qualified for the position, you should get confirmed. That’s not That’s not how Merrick Garland was treated in the previous administration.
SPICER: There’s never been a situation in which you had a fourth term — someone that late in the election cycle. It’s never occurred before.
TEXT: Well…a few administrations made ‘4-th term’ Supreme Court nominations.
THURSDAY, FEB. 2
18. SPICER: The president had a very cordial conversation with Prime Minister Trumbull where they went through an extensive discussion of this deal.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN: During this phone call between President Trump and Prime Minister Turnbull of Australia, the President relayed his concerns that he does not like this deal. I talked to one source who said there were staffers inside the white house whose faces were turning white because they were aghast at some of the details coming out of these phone conversations.
19. PRESIDENT TRUMP: President Obama said that they were going to take probably well over a thousand immigrants who were in prisons.
ANDY LEVY, FOX NEWS: You referred to these people as immigrants. They’re not, they’re refugees.
20. CONWAY: Two Iraqis came here to this country, were radicalized and they were the masterminds behind the Bowling Green massacre.
CNN: Trump adviser cites non-existent ‘massacre’ defending ban
SPICER: His number one goal is not to target any one religion.
Cue the droolers in 3....2.....1...
