Trump announces travel ban affecting dozen countries including Afghanistan and Iran

Trump revives travel ban, prohibiting entry from 12 countries, citing national security concerns, despite legal challenges.

U.S. President Donald Trump is resurrecting the travel ban policy from his first term, signing a proclamation Wednesday (June 5, 2025) night preventing people from a dozen countries from entering the United States.

The countries include Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.

In addition to the ban, which takes effect at 12.01 a.m. Monday, there will be heightened restrictions on visitors from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.

“I must act to protect the national security and national interest of the United States and its people,” Mr. Trump said in his proclamation.

The list results from a Jan. 20 executive order Mr. Trump issued requiring the departments of State and Homeland Security and the Director of National Intelligence to compile a report on “hostile attitudes” toward the U.S. and whether entry from certain countries represented a national security risk.

During his first term, Mr. Trump issued an executive order in January 2017 banning travel to the U.S. by citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries — Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen.

It was one of the most chaotic and confusing moments of his young presidency. Travelers from those nations were either barred from getting on their flights to the U.S. or detained at U.S. airports after they landed. They included students and faculty as well as businesspeople, tourists and people visiting friends and family.