Trump's early clash with courts portends years of legal battles

Washington

US President Donald Trump is barrelling into a confrontation with the courts barely two weeks after taking office, foreshadowing years of legal battles as an administration determined to disrupt the existing order presses the boundaries of executive power.

Lawyers for the administration were ordered to submit a brief on Monday defending Mr Trump's order temporarily banning refugees from around the world and all visitors from seven predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. An appeals court in California on Sunday refused to reinstate the ban after a lower court blocked it.

As people from the countries targeted by Mr Trump struggled to make their way to the United States while they could, the president for the second day in a row expressed rage at the judge in the case, this time accusing him of endangering national security. Vice-President Mike Pence defended the president's tone, but lawyers and lawmakers of both parties said that Mr Trump's…