Donald Trump on Sunday defended his order to clamp down on people entering the US from seven predominantly Muslim countries in the face of protests and legal assaults at home and mounting hostility around the globe. 

Following a night of demonstrations at US airports and an order from a federal judge blocking his government from deporting Muslim migrants and refugees who had been detained, Mr Trump tweeted that the country needed “strong borders and extreme vetting NOW”. 

“Look what is happening all over Europe and, indeed, the world — a horrible mess,” he wrote. The White House measure bars refugees from entry for 120 days and indefinitely prohibits entry for Syrian refugees. It also bars citizens from seven Muslim countries — Syria, Iraq, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen — from entering the US for 90 days.