It's one week into Donald Trump's presidency, anf the husband already has his first "heckuva job" moment. For those that 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 conducting a "heckuva job" with recovery efforts.
That comment was hung throughout the president's neck as an anvil, as flood waters swamped elements of New Orleans plus the city descended into chaos. It started a public approval going downhill that ended in 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 the implementation will not likely easily be forgotten.
"It's exercising very nicely," Mr Trump said in a very brief respond to a question on Saturday afternoon. "You see it within the airports, you find it all over. It's exercising very nicely, therefore we are going to have a really, very strict ban, and now we are going to have extreme vetting, which we need to have had in this particular country for countless years."
On the floor at major US airports, things weren't going quite so nicely, however. Immigration officials were which has a difficult time implementing Mr Trump's order after receiving conflicting instructions on who to close from entry in to the US - and what to do with them if they were held. And as the day progressed, and word spread in the detentions, crowds of protesters at international terminals grew from dozens to hundreds to thousands.
While for the campaign trail, it absolutely was 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 already established to fill from 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 on the objection of homeland security officials, who balked at including permanent US residents inside the ban. This generated for an awkward scene Saturday night with a New York courthouse, where government attorneys were required to defend measures which are creating chaos at airports nationally.
"I think the us govenment hasn't were built with a full possiblity to think about this," said federal judge Ann Donnelly, as she ruled that folks with valid paperwork on US soil couldn't be deported.
Her temporary ruling - and others like it in other courts - are simply the opening salvo as to what will likely be a protracted legal battle. Trump administration lawyers will truly be better prepared later on hearings. The orders may very well be re-instated following full trials for the merits, with out judge has yet to rule about the fate of folks who hold valid US visas and on foreign soil. In the meantime, however, it is proven to be a very embarrassing episode as to what looks like a not-ready-for-primetime White House.
A few Republicans in Congress came out with varying quantities of objection on the programme, and however the Republican leadership is playing along for now, which could change quickly should the political heat increases. The president could possibly have broad powers in setting immigration policy, but Congress can pass legislation that overrules him any time. Meanwhile, Democrats are scrambling to look at advantage with the political opportunity. "History will judge where America's leaders stood today," Democratic Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois said. It was a stern warning some of his party's 2020 presidential contenders seemed to look at to heart. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo ordered airport trains to resume need 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 from the Democratic presidential field.
2020 is really a long way off, naturally. Of more pressing issue is where the Trump administration goes at this point. On Sunday morning, press secretary Sean Spicer, chief of staff Reince Preibus and top aide Kellyanne Conway took to your airwaves to guard the White House policy and explain its implementation. Mr Trump himself fired back on Twitter - although only after first getting a swipe on the "failing" New York Times for your second day in the row. "Our country needs strong borders and extreme vetting, NOW," he tweeted. "Look what exactly is happening across Europe and, indeed, the earth - a terrible mess!"
Out of media player. Press enter to send back or tab to remain. While championing US security is generally a winning issue, protracted detention of children and also the elderly at airport checkpoints is "bad optics", as the saying goes. Watching a five-year-old re-united together with his mother and 70-year-olds facing indefinite detention puts a person face on Mr Trump's immigration programme - plus the results aren't flattering to the White House.
During the presidential primary, many Republican voters backed Mr Trump's demands a sweeping ban on Muslims entering the US, and so the president's core support may hold firm then weekend's events. The views inside American heartland, far taken from major airfields, sometimes differ greatly on the liberal bastions about the coast. At best, however, it becomes an unnecessary distraction to the White House, calling its organisational ability into question. At worst - if your majority from the nation turns for the president - Mr Trump could find his power and influence needs to ebb before his administration even gets fully under way.
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