What did Donald Trump do today?

He signed a revised version of his “urgent” Muslim immigration ban.

Trump’s original order, which banned the admission of vetted refugees and all persons from seven predominantly Muslim countries, was stayed in early February by a series of federal court decisions. At the time, Trump angrily declared that delaying implementation of his order, even for a week, would expose the United States to infiltration by terrorists—or, to use his exact word, “bad dudes.” He called on Americans to blame Judge James Robart (who ordered the first stay) specifically and the courts in general “if something happens.”

The revised order was ready last Tuesday, but its signing was delayed almost one week for political considerations: first to prevent it from interfering with positive reviews of Trump’s speech to Congress, and then to prevent it from being overwhelmed by the very bad press Trump generated over the weekend with his wiretap tweets. Unlike the previous ban, this order will not go into effect immediately, but ten days from now, most likely to avoid embarrassing stories of small children being declared "security risks" and war heroes put in detention that resulted when travelers with valid visas were caught by surprise.

The White House did not specifically address why a voluntary delay of sixteen days would not enable further infiltration by “bad dudes.”

Why should I care about this?

• Policy written with short-term political gains in mind is likely to be terrible policy.