WASHINGTON

Trump on polls: 'Any negative polls are fake news'

David Jackson
USA TODAY
President Trump waits for a lunch meeting in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on Feb. 2, 2017.

As an appeals court reviews his travel ban from seven Muslim countries, President Trump claimed Monday that the public is with him, despite polls indicating otherwise.

"Any negative polls are fake news, just like the CNN, ABC, NBC polls in the election," Trump tweeted. "Sorry, people want border security and extreme vetting."

Polls are more equivocal on Trump's move, though many showed slight opposition to the order that blocked travel to the U.S. from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, causing delays, long lines and general chaos at airports nationwide last month.

After a federal judge in Seattle struck down the order, the Trump administration has appealed to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals; the case may well be en route to the Supreme Court.

Most surveys show public opinion divided sharply along partisan lines.

A CNN/ORC poll late last week said 53% oppose the Trump travel order, while 47% support it — with 88% of Republicans backing it and 88% of the Democrats opposing it. (The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.)

A CBS News poll last week showed 51%-45% disapproval of the travel ban, with 85% of Democrats opposing and 85% of Republicans supporting. The margin of error for that survey was plus or minus 4 percentage points.

In other tweets, Trump appeared to push back on news reports that some of his aides — notably senior adviser Steve Bannon — are wielding undue influence on administration decisions and policies.

"I call my own shots, largely based on an accumulation of data, and everyone knows it," Trump said. "Some FAKE NEWS media, in order to marginalize, lies!"

Trump later took aim at a specific New York Times story by tweeting: "The failing @nytimes writes total fiction concerning me. They have gotten it wrong for two years, and now are making up stories & sources!"

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