Washington State Attorney has the perfect response to Donald Trump's vow to 'see you in court' following 'Muslim ban' defeat

Lawyers fighting the ban remain confident of victory if President takes fight to the Supreme Court

Donald Trump’s threat to “see you in court” after a bid to to reinstate his controversial travel ban was defeated for a second time, was dismissed by one of the senior litigators in the case.

“We’ve seen him in court twice, and we’re two for two,” said Washington state Attorney General, Bob Ferguson.

Within moments of the unanimous ruling handed down from a three judge panel in the ninth Circuit US District Court, Mr Trump dispatched a furious tweet about the ruling.

“See you in court, the security of our nation is at stake”, he tweeted in block capitals.

The ruling allowed citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries to continue travelling to the US, despite Mr Trump’s executive order.

The decision represents a significant setback for the US President, who seemingly remains determined to enforce the ban, despite widespread opposition and multiple legal challenges.

Mr Ferguson, who filed the case against the ban on behalf of the state of Washington, said: “In my view, the future of the constitution is at stake.

“We respect that the President has broad authority when it comes to executive orders, but they still have to follow the constitution. That’s the bottom line. And we firmly believe that this executive order does not.”

Mr Ferguson added that he was “very confident” he and his team would win any future court battle against the order, and urged Mr Trump to rethink his position.

“The President does have a choice. He can continue to fight this, or he can tear up this executive order, and I would strongly encourage him to consider the latter course of action.”

Handing down their decision, the three judges said there was no evidence that any foreign citizen from any of the seven countries had carried out a terrorist attack on US soil.

They said: “The public has a powerful interest in national security and in the ability of an elected President to enact policies... the public also has an interest in free flow of travel, in avoiding separation of families, and in freedom from discrimination.

“Rather than present evidence to explain the need for the Executive Order, the government has taken the position that we must not review its decision at all.”

In response Mr Trump told reporters at the White House that they had taken a "political decision".

He said: "We’re going to see them in court, and I look forward to doing that. It’s a decision that we’ll win, in my opinion, very easily.”

Mr Trump’s fomer presidential rival, Hillary Clinton, celebrated the latest defeat for the ban by simply tweeting: “3-0.”

Washington state Solicitor General Noah Purcell, who argued the case, responded to Mr Trump’s tweet in an interview with CNN.

“The irony from our perspective is that we've seen him in court twice now, and we've won both times," he said. "It's not like it doesn't count until you get to the Supreme Court.”

The Justice Department said in a statement it was reviewing the appeal court’s decision.

The next step in the legal process would be the Supreme Court, which currently has only eight out of nine members appointed, meaning there is a real prospect of a 4-4 split between the ideologically conservative and liberal judges.

Stalemate in the Supreme Court would mean the ruling against the travel ban by the ninth circuit judges would be upheld – dealing a serious blow to the Trump administration.