【1981 Archives】

After Saturday's terrorist attacks in London left seven dead981 Archives48 injured, President Trump responded to the tragedy by immediately politicizing it.

On Saturday evening, Trump renewed his call for his "Travel Ban" on Twitter as an "extra level of safety." It wasn't exactly the wisest choice of words for the President, whose administration is currently arguing that the his executive order is not, in fact, an unconstitutional ban.

"We need to be smart, vigilant and tough. We need the courts to give us back our rights. We need the Travel ban as an extra level of safety," the president said.

We need to be smart, vigilant and tough. We need the courts to give us back our rights. We need the Travel Ban as an extra level of safety!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 3, 2017

Shortly after Trump tweeted about his ban, he offered a tweet of condolence to those affected by the attack.

Whatever the United States can do to help out in London and the U. K., we will be there - WE ARE WITH YOU. GOD BLESS!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 3, 2017

For many, the order of Trump's tweets revealed so much about his administration's priorities. In lieu of waiting for the authorities to call it a terrorist attack, for example, Trump jumped the gun and chose to retweet the Drudge Report instead.

The Trump administration has repeatedly insisted that Trump's executive order was not in fact a ban. The administration's hope is to frame it as something other than a Muslim ban, which is clearly unconstitutional.

Alas, Trump sort of jeopardized that strategy when he called his executive order a ban in front of his 31.4 million followers.

The ACLU thanked Trump for his generous admission, which will undoubtedly help their defense when the Supreme Court considers Trump's travel ban case.

Glad we both agree the ban is a ban. https://t.co/p1qXkffyIL

— ACLU National (@ACLU) June 4, 2017

Later in the morning, Trump continued his tweetstorm by railing against political correctness, knives, and the mayor of London. The mayor responded by saying he wouldn't respond to the president's tweetstorm as he had far more important things to do.

We must stop being politically correct and get down to the business of security for our people. If we don't get smart it will only get worse

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 4, 2017

At least 7 dead and 48 wounded in terror attack and Mayor of London says there is "no reason to be alarmed!"

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 4, 2017

Do you notice we are not having a gun debate right now? That's because they used knives and a truck!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 4, 2017

Trump wasn't done there. He fired off three more tweets early Monday morning doubling down on this earlier statements—once again calling the move a "Travel Ban" with four additional tweets.

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At this point, the ACLU seems almost bemused by the entire thing.

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After alienating our most important allies and eroding a few more democratic norms, Trump finished his morning by heading to play a round of golf, his 25th visit to a golf club this year.

UPDATE: June 5, 2017, 8:46 a.m. EDT This piece has been updated with additional statements from Donald Trump and the ACLU.

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