With Donald Trump expanding the travel ban inspired by his first term in the White House to 20 more countries, as well as the Palestinian Authority, on December 16, a total of 39 countries from different corners of the world now face either a total ban or restrictions to enter the United States.
Mali, South Sudan, Niger, Burkina Faso, Syria, and the Palestinian Authority have been added to the list of nations whose citizens cannot enter the United States, which was first introduced in June.
Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Dominica, Gabon, Gambia, Ivory Coast, Malawi, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Tonga, Zambia, and Zimbabwe have meanwhile been added to a list of countries facing a block on student and business visas; the list Trump put into effect in June 2025 previously included Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.
Immediately after their nations were added to the ban, several diplomats and heads of state responded with condemnation. The Prime Minister of Antigua Gaston Browne issued a statement saying that the government of the Caribbean country was “very disappointed” because the justification accusing it of lax rules for granting citizenship by investment “does not reflect the current reality of our laws.”
Two weeks after the expansion of the ban, the West African nation of Niger took the most drastic step of permanently banning any new issuance of US visas in a reciprocal measure until the situation changes.
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“Niger is completely and permanently banning the issuance of visas to all US citizens and indefinitely banning entry into its territory for US citizens,” a government representative told the Associated Press.
A landlocked country bordered by Algeria, Libya, Chad, Nigeria, Benin, Mali and Burkina Faso, Niger is a Muslim-majority nation with a population of just over 25 million people. In the document announcing the travel ban, the White House said the country has a visa rate of 13.41% for business visas and 16.46% for student visas as well as “terrorists and their supporters [that] they are active in planning kidnappings’.
While a history of war and political instability and coups means that travel to Niger from Western countries remains very low (the State Department has kept it at the “do not travel” advisory level for years), the latest move by his government is a major escalation in relations.