The White House says it is confident the courts will reinstate President Donald Trump's travel ban on refugees and travellers from seven predominately Muslim countries. The controversial executive order was placed on a temporary nationwide hold by a Seattle judge on Friday (3 February).

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters aboard Air Force One on Monday (6 February) that the Trump administration is not rethinking its strategy on the ban, according to the Associated Press. Spicer added the administration is confident it will prevail in the lawsuit.

More from IBTimes UK

Spicer said that "clearly the law is on the president's side, the Constitution's on the president's side."

A San Francisco-based appeals court turned down the Justice Department's request to immediately set aside the ruling by Seattle-based US District Court Judge James Robart.

The Justice Department urged a federal appeals court to reinstate the ban and argued that Robart's ruling endangered national security and violated separation of powers, the New York Times reported on Monday (6 February).

The government now has the opportunity to argue in favour of the ban in a response to a lawsuit filed by the states of Washington and Minnesota, which argues the ban harms residents and effectively mandates discrimination. The ninth US Circuit Court of Appeal will hear arguments on whether to restore Trump's order on Tuesday (7 February) at 6pm EST (11pm GMT), according to the Washington Post.

Several high-tech companies, including Apple, Google, Netflix and Uber, banded together late Sunday (5 February) in favour of Washington State. The tech giants said the order would hurt their businesses by impeding their employee recruitment.

Robart's ruling unleashed a Twitter rant by the president in which he dismissed Robart as a "so-called judge" and referred to the decision as "ridiculous". According to CBS News, Trump appeared optimistic about the court decisions during his weekend away at his private club. "We'll win," he said. "For the safety of the country, we'll win."

Trump continued his attack on Twitter on Sunday (5 February), writing: "Just cannot believe a judge would put our country in such peril. If something happens blame him and court system. People pouring in. Bad!"

The president added that he had "instructed Homeland Security to check people coming into our country VERY CAREFULLY. The courts are making the job very difficult!"

California Senator Dianne Feinstein, a member of the Judiciary Committee, predicted the decision would ultimately head to the Supreme Court. "I have no doubt that it will go to the Supreme Court, and probably some judgements will be made whether this president has exceeded his authority or not," the Democrat said.

"The president is not a dictator," Feinstein added. "He is the chief executive of our country. And there is a tension between the branches of government."

White House