By Sama Marwan,
U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday ordered the launch of an official investigation into suspicions that some close associates of his predecessor, Joe Biden, conspired to cover up Biden’s mental condition and unlawfully wield presidential powers, according to an announcement from the White House.
In a statement, the White House said Trump instructed the White House Counsel to investigate, within the bounds of the law, whether certain individuals had conspired to mislead the public about former President Joe Biden’s mental state and to exercise presidential powers and responsibilities in violation of the Constitution.
“The conspiracy amounts to one of the most serious scandals in American history. The truth about who was exercising executive authority was hidden from the American people, while Biden’s signature was used to enact sweeping policy changes,” the statement said.
Trump assigned Attorney General Pam Bondi and White House legal adviser David Warrington to oversee the investigation.
Former President Joe Biden responded to the remarks by calling Trump’s decision to open an investigation into an alleged cover-up of his health condition “ridiculous.”
In another development, President Donald Trump announced that he had signed a new declaration imposing a full entry ban on citizens of 12 countries, citing national security concerns as the reason behind the move.
According to a statement from the White House, the countries subject to a **full travel ban** include:
Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen.
Partial restrictions were also imposed on citizens of seven other countries:
Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela.
White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson wrote on X (formerly Twitter):
“President Trump is delivering on his promise to protect Americans from dangerous foreign entities that seek to come to our country and harm us.”
The White House statement noted that the fully banned countries suffer from “serious shortcomings in screening and vetting procedures” and were classified as posing a “very significant threat” to U.S. national security.
This announcement is part of a broader set of measures Trump has implemented since the beginning of his second presidential term, aimed at tightening immigration policies.
On January 20, Trump issued an executive order mandating intensified security checks on all foreign nationals seeking entry into the United States. He also instructed his administration to compile a list of countries that should face full or partial travel restrictions due to insufficient security-related information.
It’s worth noting that during his first term, Trump imposed a travel ban on citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries. That order underwent several legal reviews before being upheld by the Supreme Court in 2018. President Joe Biden later revoked it in 2021, calling it a **“stain on our national conscience.”
Trump had previously unveiled his new immigration plan in an October 2023 speech, pledging to restrict entry from regions deemed “threat zones,” including Gaza, Libya,
Somalia, Syria, Yemen, and others.
