The executive order specifically invoked the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks,but the list omitted other countries with direct links to those terror attacks. The 9/11 hijackers were from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Lebanon.
Trump deliberately left off countries where he has business interests. The list does not include Muslim-majority countries where the Trump Organization does business, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. In financial disclosure forms during the presidential campaign, he listed two companies with dealings in Egypt and eight with business in Saudi Arabia. And in the UAE, the Trump Organization is partnering with a local billionaire to develop two golf courses in Dubai.
A senior Trump administration official also pointed to the 2015 shooting rampage in San Bernardino, California, to justify the President's orders although neither of the attackers in the shooting would've been affected by the new ban.
Ethics lawyers say the correlation illustrates the conflict of interest Trump has created by keeping an ownership stake in his business."Somalia is on the list, but Saudi Arabia is not. People from Somalia are going to say that's arbitrary. And one of the factors, people are going to say, is the president does business with Saudi Arabia but not Somalia," said Richard Painter, the chief ethics lawyer in the George W. Bush administration.
Trump deliberately left off countries where he has business interests. The list does not include Muslim-majority countries where the Trump Organization does business, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. In financial disclosure forms during the presidential campaign, he listed two companies with dealings in Egypt and eight with business in Saudi Arabia. And in the UAE, the Trump Organization is partnering with a local billionaire to develop two golf courses in Dubai.
A senior Trump administration official also pointed to the 2015 shooting rampage in San Bernardino, California, to justify the President's orders although neither of the attackers in the shooting would've been affected by the new ban.
Ethics lawyers say the correlation illustrates the conflict of interest Trump has created by keeping an ownership stake in his business."Somalia is on the list, but Saudi Arabia is not. People from Somalia are going to say that's arbitrary. And one of the factors, people are going to say, is the president does business with Saudi Arabia but not Somalia," said Richard Painter, the chief ethics lawyer in the George W. Bush administration.