Donald Trump announces US travel ban on 12 countries, restrictions on seven

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  • Donald Trump announces US travel ban on 12 countries, restrictions on seven

Trump says his executive order banning and restricting foreign visitors is in the interest of US ‘national security’.

United States President Donald Trump has signed an executive order imposing a full travel ban on people from 12 countries and restricting the citizens of seven other countries, the White House said.

The banned countries include Afghanistan, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Myanmar, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.

In addition to the ban announced on Wednesday, there will be heightened restrictions on people from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.

“I must act to protect the national security and national interest of the United States and its people,” Trump said in his order.

The order comes into force on Monday, June 9, 2025 at 12:01am local time in Washington, DC (04:01 GMT). Visas issued before that date will not be revoked, the order said.

In a video message released by the White House, Trump said the recent attack on a pro-Israel rally in Boulder, Colorado had “underscored the extreme dangers posed to our country by the entry of foreign nationals who are not properly vetted”.

The president claimed there were “millions and millions of these illegals who should not be in our country”.

“We will not let what happened in Europe happen to America,” he said, adding, “very simply, we cannot have open migration from any country where we cannot safely and reliably vet and screen those who seek to enter the United States”.

“We will not allow people to enter our country who wish to do us harm.”

"We cannot have open migration from any country where we cannot safely and reliably vet and screen… That is why today I am signing a new executive order placing travel restrictions on countries including Yemen, Somalia, Haiti, Libya, and numerous others." –President Trump 

The White House (@WhiteHouse)