United States President Donald Trump on Tuesday expanded a list of countries subject to a full travel ban, prohibiting citizens from an additional seven countries, including Syria, from entering the country.
The White House said in a statement that Trump signed a proclamation “expanding and strengthening entry restrictions on nationals from countries with demonstrated, persistent, and severe deficiencies in screening, vetting, and information-sharing to protect the Nation from national security and public safety threats”.
Tuesday’s move banned citizens from Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan, Syria and those holding Palestinian Authority-issued travel documents.
The action also imposes a full ban on Laos and Sierra Leone, which had previously only been subject to partial restrictions.
The White House said the expanded ban goes into effect on January 1.
The action comes despite Trump’s vow to do everything he could to make Syria successful after landmark talks in November with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former al Qaeda commander who until recently was sanctioned by Washington as a foreign terrorist.
Trump has backed Sharaa, whose visit capped a stunning year for the rebel-turned-ruler who toppled longtime autocratic leader Bashar al-Assad and has since traveled the world trying to depict himself as a moderate leader who wants to unify his war-ravaged nation and end its decades of international isolation.
But in a post on his Truth Social platform on Saturday, Trump vowed “very serious retaliation” after the US military said two US Army soldiers and a civilian interpreter were killed in Syria by a suspected Islamic State attacker who targeted a convoy of American and Syrian forces before being shot dead.
He described the incident in remarks to reporters as a “terrible” attack.
