How Donald Trump's Travel Ban Tweets Were Used Against Him

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals quoted a tweet by President Donald Trump in its decision to strike down his executive order banning the nationals of six Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S.

In its decision, the San Francisco-based court included a Trump tweet responding to the London attack earlier this month. On the evening of June 5, he tweeted, "That's right, we need a TRAVEL BAN for certain DANGEROUS countries, not some politically correct term that won't help us protect our people!"

The tweet is included as a footnote to a point in the ruling, which states, "In short, the Order does not provide a rationale explaining why permitting entry of nationals from the six designated countries under current protocols would be detrimental to the interests of the United States." Those countries are Syria, Iran, Libya, Sudan, Somalia and Yemen.

Before quoting the tweet, the footnote says, "Indeed, the president recently confirmed his assessment that it is the 'countries' that are inherently dangerous, rather than the 180 million individual nationals of those countries who are barred from entry under the President's 'travel ban.'"

Related: U.S. visas for Muslim-majority countries down 20 percent under Trump

The court also cites a CNN article, written the following day, that quoted White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, who said the president's tweets are official statements. "We take judicial notice of President Trump's statement as the veracity of this statement 'can be accurately and readily determined from sources whose accuracy cannot reasonably be questioned,'" the court said. (The latter quote refers to Federal Rules of Evidence, Rule 201. Judicial Notice of Adjudicative Facts.)

Last week, Trump counselor Kellyanne Conway's husband, George Conway, said the president's tweets on legal matters such as the travel ban "seriously undermine" the White House's agenda. After the London attack, Kellyanne Conway appeared on NBC's Today show and questioned the media's "obsession" with Trump's tweets.

Several immigrant and refugee advocate groups welcomed the court's decision on Monday. Church World Service, one of the main refugee resettlement agencies in the U.S., said, "The courts have spoken yet again in favor of justice and humanity." David Miliband, president and CEO of the International Rescue Committee, said, "It is now well past time for the administration to recognize that the ban is neither good law nor good policy."

Monday's ruling follows a similar decision, from the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, last month. The White House has already requested a Supreme Court review of that ruling.