It took a week, but it looks like Donald Trump has provoked his first crisis. His executive order to temporarily ban refugees and migrants from a group of majority-Muslim countries has been met with dozens of demonstrations, critical court rulings, criticism from allies around the world, even criticism from some Republican politicians, including, yes, even Cory Gardner. Via The New York Times.
Benjamin Wallace-Wells writes that Donald Trump is dangerously isolated, his decisions made with the help of only a few of his closest advisers or, just as often, alone with only the blue glow of his television set. Via The New Yorker.
Eliot A. Cohen writes that we are in a “clarifying moment” in American history and has this to say to his fellow conservatives on Trump: “Either you stand up for your principles and for what you know is decent behavior, or you go down, if not now, then years from now, as a coward or opportunist. Your reputation will never recover, nor should it.” Via The Atlantic.
Life in TrumpWorld: GOP senators call executive order a “self-inflicted wound”; Trump calls the senators “wrong” and, of course, “weak.” Via The Los Angeles Times.
Trump, the refugee ban and the triumph of cruelty. Via Vox.
A surprise, at least to some in the Trump administration: Many Christian leaders denounce Trump’s plan to favor Christian refugees. It seems it may not only be unconstitutional, but also un-Christian. Via The New York Times.
There was the stroke of a Trump pen, and then there were the 34 chaotic hours that followed in one American city. Via The Boston Globe.
From The National Review: Trump is mostly right on substance, but all wrong on the rollout. It’s not just refugees, the magazine’s editorial says, that need to be vetted.
Meanwhile, Steve Bannon, the former Breitbart boss, now has a seat on the National Security Council while Trump has apparently limited the role of both the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the director of national intelligence. Not everyone is happy. Susan Rice, former national security adviser, calls it “stone cold crazy.” Via The Washington Post.
The Washington Post takes a look at Colorado native Neil Gorsuch and why he’s “naturally equipped” for a place on Trump’s Supreme Court shortlist.
Photo by Noborder Network via Flickr:Creative Commons
