It's merely one week into Donald Trump's presidency, and that he already has his first "heckuva job" moment. For individuals who don't remember, as a direct consequence of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, President George W Bush publicly praised his emergency management head, Michael Brown, for performing a "heckuva job" with recovery efforts.
That comment was hung throughout the president's neck just like an anvil, as flood waters swamped aspects of New Orleans plus the city descended into chaos. It started a public approval unpredictable manner that generated sweeping Democratic victories from the 2006 mid-term elections. History will judge the long-term impact of Mr Trump's Friday afternoon immigration order, but his early praise due to its implementation is not going to easily be forgotten.
"It's performing exercises very nicely," Mr Trump said in a very brief reaction to a question on Saturday afternoon. "You see it inside airports, you visualize it all over. It's doing exercises very nicely, and that we are going to have an extremely, very strict ban, so we are going to have extreme vetting, which we must have had with this country for quite some time."
On the soil at major US airports, things weren't going quite so nicely, however. Immigration officials were creating a difficult time implementing Mr Trump's order after receiving conflicting instructions on who to dam from entry in to the US - and what to do with them if they were held. And as the day progressed, and word spread on the detentions, crowds of protesters at international terminals grew from dozens to hundreds to thousands.
While around the campaign trail, it turned out easy for Mr Trump to roundly decry the US immigration system as broken and create a general require bans and moratoriums. As president, however, his team has received to fill within the details - also it seems they faced some difficulty translating his pre-election rhetoric into policy.
Mr Trump's Friday afternoon executive order reportedly was crafted without conferring with legal aides and enacted within the objection of homeland security officials, who balked at including permanent US residents inside the ban. This generated for an awkward scene Saturday night in a New York courthouse, where government attorneys were required to defend measures that had been creating chaos at airports nationally.
"I think the us govenment hasn't stood a full opportunity to think about this," said federal judge Ann Donnelly, as she ruled that men and women with valid paperwork on US soil couldn't be deported.
Her temporary ruling - the ones like it in other courts - are merely the opening salvo using what will likely be a protracted legal battle. Trump administration lawyers will truly be better prepared later on hearings. The orders may be re-instated following full trials for the merits, with out judge has yet to rule about the fate of an individual who hold valid US visas and still on foreign soil. In the meantime, however, it has proven to be a disturbing episode using what looks like a not-ready-for-primetime White House.
A few Republicans in Congress have fallen out with varying degrees of objection for the programme, and however the Republican leadership is playing along for now, which could change quickly if your political heat increases. The president can have broad powers in setting immigration policy, but Congress can pass legislation that overrules him any time. Meanwhile, Democrats are scrambling to consider advantage in the political opportunity. "History will judge where America's leaders stood today," Democratic Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois said. It was a reminder some of his party's 2020 presidential contenders seemed to consider to heart. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo ordered airport trains to resume plan to JFK Airport, after transit officials had suspended want to prevent protesters from continuing to flood in. Senator Elizabeth Warren spoke to crowds at Boston's Logan Airport, as did Senator Cory Booker at Dulles near Washington, DC. All three are believed near the top with the Democratic presidential field.
2020 can be a long way off, naturally. Of more pressing issue is where the Trump administration goes from this level. On Sunday morning, press secretary Sean Spicer, chief of staff Reince Preibus and top aide Kellyanne Conway took for the airwaves to guard the White House policy and explain its implementation. Mr Trump himself fired back on Twitter - although only after first choosing a swipe on the "failing" New York Times to the second day within a row. "Our country needs strong borders and extreme vetting, NOW," he tweeted. "Look precisely what is happening everywhere Europe and, indeed, the entire world - an awful mess!"
Out of media player. Press enter another or tab to carry on. While championing US security can be quite a winning issue, protracted detention of children along with the elderly at airport checkpoints is "bad optics", as the saying goes. Watching a five-year-old re-united along with his mother and 70-year-olds facing indefinite detention puts a personality's face on Mr Trump's immigration programme - as well as the results aren't flattering for your White House.
During the presidential primary, most of Republican voters backed Mr Trump's requires a sweeping ban on Muslims entering the US, therefore, the president's core support may hold firm then weekend's events. The views inside the American heartland, far taken out of major air terminals, sometimes differ greatly through the liberal bastions about the coast. At best, however, it is an unnecessary distraction for your White House, calling its organisational ability into question. At worst - if your majority with the nation turns about the president - Mr Trump might discover his power and influence needs to ebb before his administration even gets fully under way.
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