Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, also asserted that the federal courts “have no jurisdiction” over President Trump’s conduct of foreign affairs or his power to expel foreign enemies.

A U.S. federal judge asked the Trump administration to explain how it failed to act on its court order to halt the deportation of hundreds of Venezuelan migrants, including alleged gang members, escalating the confrontation between the President and the federal judiciary.

More than 200 Venezuelans alleged by the White House to be gang members have been deported from the US to a supermax prison in El Salvador, even as a US judge blocked the removals.