Washington (TDI): In a move that echoes one of his most contentious policies from his earlier presidency, US President Donald Trump has signed a new executive order banning travel from a dozen countries, including Iran, Yemen, and Afghanistan. The order, signed on Wednesday, is set to take effect from Monday.
According to the White House, the decision follows a recent attack in Boulder, Colorado, where a man accused of using a makeshift flamethrower at a Jewish demonstration was allegedly in the US without legal documentation. Trump pointed to the incident as evidence of the need for tighter immigration controls.
The list of countries under the full ban includes: Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. Citizens from these nations will not be permitted to travel to the US under the new directive.
In addition, Trump placed limited travel restrictions on seven more countries: Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela. While general entry is restricted, some temporary work visa holders from these countries will still be allowed to enter.
President Trump said in a statement, “The recent terror incident in Colorado has reminded us of the significant threat posed by unchecked entry from nations with inadequate screening processes. We won’t allow it.”
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Despite the broad scope of the ban, exceptions have been made for international athletes participating in upcoming global events. Individuals traveling to the US for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, being co-hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico, as well as the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, will not be affected.
In a separate announcement on the same day, Trump also introduced a ban on visas for international students enrolled at Harvard University, continuing his administration’s aggressive stance against institutions he views as politically adversarial.
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Trump defended the new travel restrictions by drawing comparisons to the 2017 policy that restricted entry from several Muslim-majority countries, a decision that sparked legal challenges and widespread protests at the time.
“That ban worked,” he said. “It kept America safe while Europe paid the price for poor border policies. We can’t allow open borders with countries where we have no way of thoroughly checking who is coming in.”
Farkhund Yousafzai is an Associate Editor at The Diplomatic Insight.
