WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump says he did not include Egypt in a travel ban, which he tied to a terror attack allegedly carried out by an Egyptian national, because the United States works closely with the Arab nation.
"Egypt has been a country that we deal with very closely. They have things under control. The countries that we have don't have things under control," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on June 5.
In introducing the partial or complete ban on travel from citizens of 19 nations on June 4, Trump cited the Boulder, Colorado, attack that took place at an event raising awareness about Israeli hostages. The suspect in the case, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, is an Egyptian man who entered the U.S. on a tourist visit that he overstayed after applying for asylum, federal officials say.
Yet, the travel ban that Trump unveiled days later did not include Egypt, raising questions about the timing and purpose of the ban, which the president's critics say unfairly targets African and Muslim-majority nations.
Trump requested that the State Department and other national security officials put together a list of countries for potential visa restrictions in an executive order just after taking office. But nothing came of it for months, until the Boulder attack, which he blamed on the previous administration.
