Only a day after casting airports around the US into confusion, and hours after the administration's first defeat in federal court, Donald Trump and his advisers flew into a defense of his vague and chaotically enforced ban on travel from seven Muslim-majority countries. Chief of staff Reince Priebus appeared to concede to the courts by saying the ban would no longer apply to green-card holders, only to contradict himself within minutes. Meanwhile, attorneys told reporters “rogue” border patrol agents were still detaining people or trying to deport them. In a statement and a series of tweets, Trump insisted the order was not a “Muslim ban”, cited Obama precedents … and insulted John McCain, Lindsey Graham and the New York Times.

Donald Trump’s executive order to close America’s borders to travellers from some Muslim-majority countries caused chaos and confusion, as multiple people who had flown to the US were held at major airports while others were barred from boarding flights or were pulled off planes overseas. As immigration and civil rights group scrambled to understand the order, and as family members of the stranded tried to contact their loved ones, a sizeable protest formed at JFK airport in New York. Trump spent the day in Washington, speaking to five world leaders including Vladimir Putin of Russia and issuing an executive order to ban members of his government moving swiftly to lobbying firms.

Marking a draconian shift in US policy, Donald Trump issued an executive order that will deny refugees and immigrants from certain Muslim-majority countries entry to the United States. Trump’s unprecedented action will indefinitely close US borders to refugees fleeing the humanitarian crisis in war-torn Syria and impose a de facto ban on Muslims traveling to the US from parts of the Middle East and North Africa by prioritizing refugee claims “on the basis of religious-based persecution”.

Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto cancelled a visit to Washington, over Donald Trump's insistence that Mexico will pay for his border wall. Peña Nieto said: “Mexico reiterates its willingness to work with the US to achieve agreements which benefit both nations.” Speaking in Philadelphia, Trump claimed the decision to cancel was mutual. By the afternoon, Trump's press secretary said the president had decided to hit Mexico with a 20% import tax.

Donald Trump faced a fresh torrent of criticism on Wednesday as he moved ahead with plans to build a wall on the Mexican border via executive order. Trump also signed an executive order that could slash funding for so-called “sanctuary cities”, and reinstated the “secure communities” program, which encourages broader cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration agencies.

Donald Trump was sharply criticised by Native Americans and climate change activists after he signed executive orders to allow construction of the Dakota Access and Keystone XL oil pipelines. Both pipe projects had been blocked by Barack Obama’s administration, partly because of environmental concerns. But Trump has questioned the science of climate change and campaigned on a promise to expand energy infrastructure and create jobs.

Donald Trump began his effort to dismantle Barack Obama’s legacy, formally scrapping a flagship trade deal with 11 countries in the Pacific rim. The new president also signed executive orders to ban funding for international groups that provide abortions, and placing a hiring freeze on non-military federal workers.

Rattled by the nation’s biggest political demonstrations since the Vietnam war, Donald Trump and his aides spent an extraordinary first weekend in office falsely claiming that record numbers of people had attended his swearing-in on Friday. Kellyanne Conway, a senior White House aide, told NBC press secretary Sean Spicer had been offering “alternative facts” when he made several statements contradicted by photographs and transit data.

The Women’s March on Washington descended on the US capital, while in hundreds of cities across America and around the world women joined in a gesture of resistance against the new president’s first full day in office – bringing a palpable sense of solidarity and determination to resist a backwards-looking agenda.

Donald Trump coined the sinister phrase “American carnage” in his inaugural speech. But more chilling, some said, were the immediate changes to the White House website where Barack Obama's administration's information on civil rights, climate change, LGBT rights, healthcare, immigration, education and the “Iran Deal” all vanished. It changed to just six “issues” with, for example, “America first energy plan” replacing climate change.