Still, Yates' abrupt decision deepened the chaos surrounding Trump's order. A senior US official said Mattis, along with Joint Chiefs Chairman Joseph Dunford, was aware of the general concept of Trump's order but not the details. Tillerson has told the president's political advisers that he was baffled over not being consulted on the substance of the order. US officials and others with knowledge of the Cabinet's thinking insisted on anonymity in order to disclose the officials' private views. Trump's order pauses America's entire refugee programme for four months and indefinitely bans all those from war-ravaged Syria.

Source: New Zealand Herald January 31, 2017 00:33 UTC