Don’t Give Me 'Your Tired, Your Poor': Trump Expands Travel Ban
New executive order bars entry from 12 nations and imposes partial restrictions on citizens of seven others, marking a significant escalation in U.S. immigration policy.
President Donald Trump on Wednesday issued a sweeping new travel ban for people from 19 countries, citing national security risks. The ban fully restricts people from Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen from entering the United States. The president is also partially restricting and limiting U.S. entry for nationals of Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela. The administration’s travel ban has been in the works for months, following through on a Day One executive order that directed agencies to identify countries where vetting visitors and visa applicants is considered infeasible and poses a threat to national security. The extensive planning speaks to the White House’s efforts to pass legal muster: Trump’s 2017 travel ban targeting majority-Muslim countries suffered a series of courtroom defeats before a slimmed down version eventually took effect. “We will not allow people to enter our country who wish to do us harm, and nothing will stop us from keeping America safe,” Trump said in a video posted by the White House on Wednesday. The ban exempts existing visa holders, lawful permanent residents, specific visa categories and individuals the government determines serve U.S. national interests. Trump said Secretary of State Marco Rubio performed a security review of “high-risk regions” and made recommendations for which countries should be slapped with new restrictions. The administration looked at factors such as terrorist activity, visa security cooperation, a country’s ability to verify travelers’ identities, record keeping of nationals’ criminal histories, as well as the rate of illegal visa overstays, the president added. The White House considered including a much larger list of countries, according to a U.S. official familiar with the planning and granted anonymity to describe it. Trump said Wednesday that the list could be altered if countries improve conditions and meet U.S. vetting standards, and that others could be added if they pose a risk - Politico
My hot take comment: Myanmar has been accused of high visa overstay rates in the United States. Like others on the list—such as Iran—the country is also accused of failing to cooperate with U.S. authorities in repatriating deported nationals, according to a report by the BBC. However, Myanmar’s inclusion on the list is “pretty baffling,” says my friend and Bangkok-based BBC correspondent, Jonathan Head. The United States has long served as a safe haven for Burmese nationals, with an estimated 250,000 having found refuge there—many of them fleeing the genocidal actions of the country’s military regime. While neighboring countries like Thailand, Bangladesh, and to a lesser extent Singapore, have provided immediate refuge to Rohingya and other persecuted groups, the U.S. has offered something more: a chance to start over. “The worst perpetrators of human rights abuses in Myanmar are mostly already banned from traveling to the U.S.,” Head points out. “Extending the ban to all citizens will mostly affect those fighting against the military for the restoration of democracy. These include activists living in precarious situations in neighboring countries where they don’t have legal status—many of whom are hoping to eventually reach the U.S.” And if you think these claims of persecution are exaggerated, think again. I’ve personally spoken with displaced Rohingya in Bangladesh’s overcrowded refugee camps, and with Burmese activists across Southeast Asia. Their stories are heartbreaking. One woman from Chin State—temporarily sheltering in Thailand—told me her home region remains under frequent attack by the military. Chin State was among the first to witness intense clashes between resistance forces and the regime following the February 2021 coup. According to the International Crisis Group, the conflict has displaced around 160,000 people—more than one-third of the state’s population—either internally or across borders.
US President Donald Trump says his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, warned him "very strongly" of Russia's intention to respond to Ukraine's drone attack, which struck dozens of long-range bomber aircraft across Russian regions over the weekend. In a post on Truth Social on June 4, Trump described his latest phone call with Putin as a "good conversation," though he noted it was not the kind of conversation that would lead to immediate peace. According to Trump, the call lasted 75 minutes, and Ukraine's surprise drone attack, carried out by Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) on June 1, was one of the topics discussed. "We discussed the attack on Russia's docked airplanes by Ukraine, and also various other attacks that have been taking place by both sides," Trump said. "Putin did say, and very strongly, that he will have to respond to the recent attack on the airfields," he added. Following the phone call, Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov told the state-run TASS news agency that Trump had informed Putin the United States was not notified by Ukraine about its plans for the drone attack. When asked if Russia would respond to the attack, Ushakov said, "the issue was discussed" but gave no further details - RFE/RL
A long-time Western source with deep security expertise, currently based in Ukraine, told me that Russia may be planning a strike on a high-profile target in Kyiv—potentially a major foreign-owned hotel or a government building. In the past 24 hours, the U.S. State Department issued a security alert warning that “Russia has increased the intensity of its missile and drone attacks against Ukraine in recent weeks, and there is currently a continued risk of significant air attacks.”
North Korea's dictator Kim Jong-un has once again affirmed his "unconditional support" for Russia's all-out war against Ukraine during a meeting with a top Russian official. The authoritarian ruler made the comment during talks with Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu in Pyongyang on Wednesday, according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
Kim reiterated his “unconditional support for the stand of Russia and its foreign policies in all the crucial international political issues including the Ukrainian issue", KCNA reported. The two countries' ties have strengthened in recent years, with Pyongyang sending thousands of troops to Russia to participate in its war against Ukraine - Euronews
The Israeli military has begun strikes on the southern Beirut suburbs of Dahiyeh after issuing forced evacuation orders for the Hadath, Haret Hreik and Borj el-Barajneh areas. Speaking to Al Jazeera, analyst Rami Khouri said that Israeli strikes on Lebanon have continued, despite a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah reached in November of last year. “It’s no surprise,” he said of today’s strike. “They’ve been assassinating people over the last three, four months. They’ve continued occupying five places in South Lebanon after the ceasefire agreement….The Israelis have always used military force as their main instrument to get their foes to submit to them,” he said. “But the irony is that it hasn’t worked. It has only generated great dissent, and we’ll have to see in Lebanon what it means…Hezbollah took a hit last year, and they’re obviously regrouping,” he said. “We don’t know exactly what they’re doing, but they are regrouping.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirms his government is coordinating with “clans” in Gaza opposed to Hamas but did not specifically confirm reports it was providing arms.
Israel has killed four journalists in an attack on al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City. At least 52 people have been killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza today.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation says it will resume distributing aid at two of its four points in Gaza after shutting down its operations for a full day on Wednesday. Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed and wounded while seeking aid at its distribution points in recent days. - Al Jazeera
A year after graduation, a 22-year-old with no apparent national security expertise is now a U.S. Department of Homeland Security official overseeing the government’s main hub for terrorism prevention, including an $18 million grant program intended to help communities combat violent extremism. The White House has appointed Thomas Fugate, a former Trump campaign worker who interned at the hard-right Heritage Foundation, to a Homeland Security role that was expanded to include the Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships. Known as CP3, the office has led nationwide efforts to prevent hate-fueled attacks, school shootings and other forms of targeted violence. Fugate’s appointment is the latest shock for an office that has been decimated since President Donald Trump returned to the White House and began remaking national security to give it a laser focus on immigration. News of the appointment has trickled out in recent weeks, raising alarm among counterterrorism researchers and nonprofit groups funded by CP3. Several said they turned to LinkedIn for intel on Fugate — an unknown in their field — and were stunned to see a photo of “a college kid” with a flag pin on his lapel posing with a sharply arched eyebrow. No threat prevention experience is listed in his employment history - ProPublica
Foreign arrivals to Thailand dropped 14% to 2.6 million in May, the country's longest streak of declines since 2021. The biggest drop came from travelers from other Asian countries, with Chinese tourists plummeting by nearly 1 million fewer arrivals so far this year versus 2024, due to concerns about safety and scams. Despite a boost in Western visitors inspired by HBO's The White Lotus, Thailand's tourism industry is struggling, with hotel occupancy and daily room rates expected to decline, and the country at risk of missing its goal of attracting 39 million visitors this year - Bloomberg
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