White House spokesman Sean Spicer addressed the media on Trump's 'travel ban' and other immigration actions

White House spokesman Sean Spicer addresses the media on Trump's 'travel ban' and other immigration actions

7.52am: Spicer said only 109 people were stopped from entering the United States when the 'extreme vetting' order was signed.

7.50am: When the topic of trade was raised, Spicer said US would start talking to other trade partners around the globe, including those that were part of the TPP process.

7.43am: Reporter from Australian Broadcasting Corporation asked Spicer if the current administration will be honoring the deal the Obama administration made with Australian government to take some refugees, mainly Iranians - 1250 refugees held in PNG.

The deal will still be going ahead, and 'extreme vetting' will be applied to all of them.

7.40am: On the removal of the acting Attorney General, Spicer said the President went through the process of his 'extreme vetting order' - the office of legal compliance said it was legal. The AG was required to uphold it. Her statement that she wouldn't uphold it was a clear dereliction of duty.

Spicer restated that the Department of Homeland Security was consulted a number of times of the order.

7.38am: President Trump yesterday tweeted about 'the ban' - Spicer said he was just using the "media's words" and that it wasn't a "ban".

White House press secretary Sean Spicer speaks about the latest on Trump's travel ban on seven Muslim-majority countries and other immigration actions. AP Photo

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!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 30, 2017

7.36am:

7.35am: President Trump met with Big Pharma bosses today - Spicer said as a businessman he knows how to negotiate better prescription drug prices for the American people.

7.33am: Spicer said the nominee should win bi-partisan support, despite a Senate Democrats vow to filibuster the Supreme Court pick.

7.31am: On fears that President Trump's nominee for the Supreme Court will not be approved, Spicer said the will of the American people will overcome the Democrats attempts to stall the process.

7.30am:The Department of Homeland Security earlier held a press conference to inform the media about Trump's executive order before it was implemented and made edits to Trump's order. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly reiterated: "This is not, I repeat, not a ban on Muslims."

7.27am: On the 'travel ban' - Spicer made it clear that it wasn't a ban, but a measure to ensure the security of the US.

7.25am: Trump will be moving to the 'winter' White House in Mar-a-Largo later this week - his personal mansion.

7.23am: Acting attorney general was rightly removed from her position for not executing Trump's directive. Spicer said it is Trump's job to lay out his vision as he talked about on the campaign trail and it is cabinet and state department employee's job to fulfil this.

7.20am: Spicer announced that former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani has been shoulder-tapped to lead the White House's cyber-security efforts. Giuliani, 71, was scheduled to join international law firm Greenberg Traurig as chair of its cybersecurity and crisis-management practice.

7.18am: 16 of Trump's nominees are still waiting for confirmation. At the same time into his presidency Barack Obama only had seven. Spicer has placed the blame for this at the feet of the Democrats.

7.15am: Last night Trump relieved Sally Yates of her duties as acting Attorney General and appointed Dana Boente as acting attorney general while waiting for the Democrats to approve the appointment of Jeff Sessions as attorney general. The Democrats today boycotted the vote of two of Trump's nominees, forcing a postponement and Spicer couldn't hide the disdain in his voice.Video

7.10am: Promises to be a very historic night as President Trump announces Supreme Court nominee. At 1.45pm today (NZT) Trump will announce his appointment.

Earlier

7am: A senior U.S. official says 872 refugees will be allowed into the United States this week despite the Trump administration executive order suspending the U.S. refugees program.

Kevin McAleenan, acting commissioner of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency, said these refugees would be granted waivers. He said that was allowed for under the order, in instances where refugees were ready for travel and stopping them would cause "undue hardship."

McAleenan said this was being done in concert with the State Department. He said 872 refugees will be arriving this week and will processed for waivers through the end of the week.

He was speaking at a news conference Tuesday about the administration's new immigration restrictions, which also suspends arrival by nationals from seven predominantly Muslim nations.Video

6.40am: Iraq's prime minister says a travel ban ordered by U.S. President Donald Trump is an "offense to Iraq," but that he won't take retaliatory measures.

An executive order signed over the weekend temporarily prevents the entry of citizens of Iraq and six other Muslim-majority countries. The new U.S. administration says it is necessary to keep out potential terrorists until security procedures can be improved.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi told a news conference Tuesday that he hopes the order will be changed.

He said the U.S. should be grateful to Iraq because of its "sacrifices in fighting terrorism," but that "the way the order was issued was not good, and I don't want to cause the same offense to the American people."

U.S.-backed Iraqi forces have been battling the Islamic State group for more than two years, and are currently trying to drive the extremists from Mosul, the country's second-largest city.

6.30am: The U.S. Embassy in Israel says Israelis born in the seven Muslim-majority countries under a travel ban ordered by President Donald Trump can still travel to the United States under certain conditions.

A message posted on the embassy website on Tuesday says Israeli passport holders born in Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, or Yemen who do not have a valid passport from their birth country can travel to the U.S. under a valid visa.

The embassy says it's continuing to process visa applications from Israelis born in those countries who don't have a passport from one of the seven countries or have not "declared themselves to be a national of one of those countries."

Hundreds of thousands of Jews born in countries in the Middle East and North Africa settled in Israel after the country's establishment in 1948. Many were automatically stripped of their citizenship by those countries when they left.

It is rare for Israelis to be dual nationals of one of the seven countries and the U.S. Embassy did not specifically say what happens to Israelis who carry a second passport from one of the countries under Trump's ban.

The executive order Trump issued caused confusion among Israelis born in countries affected by the travel ban.