Developments on Day 17 of the Trump Administration:

*Donald Trump warns judges considering the “Muslim Ban” executive order that they will be responsible for any attacks by “terrorists” inside the US.

On Friday, Judge James Robart of the 9th Circuit Court in Washington State blocked the suspension of visas for citizens of seven mainly-Muslim countries, provoking the anger of Trump:

On Sunday, the Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco denied a Justice Department request for an emergency stay of the suspension. The court asked both sides to file briefs by 3 p.m. Monday local time (2300 GMT).

With the Department of Homeland Security — which was not consulted by the White House and only learned of the ban just before Trump signed it on January 27 — immediately permitting those affected to enter the US, some travellers are scrambling to reach America before any court ruling closes the window.

See TrumpWatch, Day 16: Courts Block Muslim Ban, Trump’s Trust Issue
US VideoCast: Muslim Ban — Will Trump Fold or Go All-In?

*Donald Trump again shows his affinity for Vladimir Putin, speaking of his respect for the Russian leader and equating Putin’s violence with past “killing” by the US Government.

In an interview with Fox News, broadcast before American football’s Super Bowl LI, Trump replied to host Bill O’Reilly if he respected Putin, Trump replied: “I do respect Putin.”

Reilly pressed that Putin is a “killer”, prompting Trump’s response: “We’ve got a lot of killers. What, do you think our country’s so innocent?”

*Chief of Staff Reince Preibus and his allies wage a battle with their White House rivals, notably chief strategist Steve Bannon and policy Stephen Miller, through leaks to The New York Times and Washington Post.

Long stories in both newspapers portray the chaos of the early days of the Trump Administration, including rushed executive orders pushed through by Bannon and Miller without consultation with government agencies. Both also portray a fightback by Priebus, with Trump giving him authority to impose a more orderly system for policymaking.

The stories are also kinder to Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and daughter Ivanka, presenting them as restraining influence on some excessive orders, but adds they are parents of “young children who [have] taken to life in Washington and…already been spotted at events around town.

The Times says, “Mr. Bannon has rushed into the vacuum, telling allies that he and Mr. Miller have a brief window in which to push through their vision of Mr. Trump’s economic nationalism.”

Among the leaks damaging Bannon — the story that Trump was not fully informed when he signed the executive order putting his chief strategist on the Principals Committee of the National Security Council, the top body for foreign policy.

Trump reacted angrily on Monday: