Barack Obama launched a stinging rebuke of Donald Trump’s immigration orders and refugee ban last night, warning that «American values» were at stake.
The former president re-entered the political fray just 10 days after he handed power over to Mr Trump and stated that he supported mass protests against the «extreme vetting» orders.
Mr Obama’s spokesman said in a statement that he «fundamentally disagrees with the notion of discriminating against individuals because of their faith or religion.
«Citizens exercising their Constitutional rights to assemble, organise and have their voices heard by their elected officials is exactly what we expect to see when American values are at stake. »
Mr Obama made his intervention as Mr Trump stood resolute in the face of a global backlash against the ban, claiming his action would stop «bad dudes» getting into the United States.
Read more: Obama breaks his silence on Trump’s immigrants order and praises protesters
He defended the order, saying only 109 people out of the 325,000 who arrive at US airports on an average day were «detained and held for questioning». Instead, he blamed the airport chaos on computer glitches and protests.
Mr Trump said: «We actually had a very good day in terms of national security. We had to make the move some day, and we decided to make the move.
«If the ban were announced with a one week notice the ‘bad’ would rush into our country during that week. A lot of bad «dudes» out there! There is nothing nice about searching for terrorists before they can enter our country. »
Mr Trump accused Chuck Schumer, the Democrat leader in the Senate, of shedding «fake tears» during an emotional press conference with a Syrian interpreter affected by the ban.
He added: «I’m going to ask him who was his acting coach. There’s about a five per cent chance they were real. »
Sean Spicer, Mr Trump’s spokesman, said the president wanted to «stay ahead of the curve» protecting America and did not want to end up «looking in the rear view mirror» after an attack. He said 109 people at airports had been «temporarily inconvenienced for the good of us all» and the «majority of Americans» agreed with Mr Trump’s policy. Mr Spicer added: «The American people wanted decisive leadership. They’re getting it. »
After a weekend of public protests, Democrats launched an attempt to overturn the executive order in Congress. Mr Schumer said the ban was «un-American» and appeared to have been written «on the back of an envelope».
At the same time the US state department received urgent cables from embassies abroad reporting anger. Hundreds of US foreign service officials and diplomats signed a «dissent cable» saying the ban was counter to American values and would damage «international goodwill toward Americans».
Charles Koch, the billionaire Republican Party donor and industrialist, also pronounced his first public split with the Trump administration.
Mr Koch said: «We have a tremendous danger because we can go the authoritarian route, or we can move toward a free and open society. »
Mr Trump’s order banned US entry for people from seven Muslim-majority countries for 90 days. The countries are Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. It also stopped the admission of all refugees for 120 days.
Read more: ‘Calm down’: Trump’s heartland voters shrug off global uproar over immigration ban
People in transit at the weekend were detained, leading to chaos at airports and widespread protests. Yesterday officials said no one was still being detained at US airports.
Legal challenges to the order loomed as judges moved to block it and lawyers claimed it was unconstitutional.
Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, said the ban promoted a general suspicion against people of Muslim faith and contradicted «the basic concept of international help for refugees».
Mr Trump was also criticised by some Republican insiders who accused the White House of causing chaos by giving no advance warning of the travel order.
John Kasich, the Ohio Governor and former Republican presidential hopeful, described it as «ham-handed».
