President Trump on Friday promised additional national security measures sometime next week, and said his administration would continue to fight court decisions that have suspended his executive order on immigration.
“We’ll be doing something very rapidly, having to do with additional security for our country,” Trump said at the White House in a press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. “You’ll be seeing that sometime next week.”
Trump hailed his executive order on immigration as a key security measure, although it’s one that two courts have blocked. But Trump said he’s confident that his Justice Department would overcome that hurdle.
His administration suffered a political blow on Thursday when the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals voted to leave in place a temporary pause on his refugee restrictions while a lower court weighed the merits of the case against it.
“It shouldn’t have taken this much time, because safety is a primary reason, one of the reasons I’m standing here today,” Trump said Friday of the court’s decision. “Ultimately, I have no doubt that we’ll win that particular case.”
Trump did not specify what new security measures his administration would pursue next week. But his team is reportedly weighing changes to the refugee-related executive order that could make the policy more politically and legally palatable.
Trump said on Friday at the national security threats that motivated him to sign the contentious order.
“I’ve learned tremendous things that you could only learn if you were in a certain position, namely president,” Trump said.
