JTFMax

In a move sure to ignite global headlines—and probably a few airport protests— President Donald Trump has announced a sweeping new travel ban affecting citizens from a dozen countries, effective June 9, 2025 at precisely 12:01 a.m. The former president, now 78 and still fond of prime-time declarations, claims the updated restrictions are a direct response to what he called a “terrorist attack” in Boulder, Colorado, that left twelve Jewish protesters injured.

Trump’s announcement came via a recorded video message on Wednesday evening, declaring that the attack had “underscored the extreme dangers our country faces” from inadequately vetted foreign nationals. The accused assailant, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, a 45-year-old Egyptian citizen whose visa had expired more than two years ago, is alleged to have hurled incendiary devices at demonstrators calling for the release of Israeli hostages.

The result? Citizens of Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen will be barred from entering the United States. Not to be outdone, travelers from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela will now face what the administration describes as “enhanced vetting procedures,” a phrase that rarely bodes well for visa applicants.

If this sounds familiar, that’s because it is. During his first term, Trump introduced what critics quickly labeled the “Muslim Ban,” a controversial executive order that sowed chaos at airports and sent immigration lawyers racing to federal courthouses. That policy was tweaked, litigated, rebranded, and ultimately upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2018, even as critics warned it treaded dangerously close to religious discrimination.

That ban was undone in early 2021 by President Joe Biden, just hours after he took office. Now, Trump appears to be resurrecting the script—with a broader cast of countries and a new headline-making catalyst. Whether the updated list will stand up to legal scrutiny—or spark déjà vu in terminal lounges nationwide—remains to be seen. But one thing is certain: Trump’s travel bans are back on the runway.