They hate him but "applaud" him — but in a sarcastic manner.
The Islamic State (ISIS) regards U.S. President Donald Trump as one of its mortal enemies and now the terrorist organisation is "hailing" America's new president for his latest action.
According to a New York Times journalist who is now in the still ISIS-occupied Iraqi city of Mosul, ISIS fighters are referring to President Trump's executive order partially freezing immigration as "the Blessed Ban."
The jihadists now say that Trump's move only proves to their supporters that America really does "hate" Islam and that they have succeeded in frightening "the most powerful man in the world," tweeted New York Times terror correspondent Rukmini Callimachi.
"They succeeded in scaring the daylight out of America," she said.
Iraq is one of the seven predominantly Muslim countries considered as "hot spots for terrorism" — along with Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen—from which refugees and citizens are temporarily barred from entering the U.S.
Terrorism experts said the travel ban will prove to be counterproductive in the end since it will only help ISIS recruit more fighters as it pushes its message that the West is at war with Islam, the Business Insider reported.
"The [ISIS] chatrooms have been abuzz about how this shows that there is a clash of civilizations, that Muslims are not welcome in America, etc.," Mia Bloom, a terrorism expert and professor at Georgia State University, told the news outlet.
The Washington Post, meanwhile, noted that comments posted to pro-ISIS social media accounts also predicted that Trump's executive order would prompt American Muslims to side with the extremists.
"[Islamic State leader Abu Bakr] al-Baghdadi has the right to come out and inform Trump that banning Muslims from entering America is a 'blessed ban,'" said one posting to a pro-ISIS channel. The commenter compared Trump's order to the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, which Islamic militant leaders at the time referred to as a "blessed invasion" that triggered Western animosity across the Islamic world.
Even Christian leaders in the Middle East are opposing the travel ban despite the fact that Trump has vowed to give U.S. resettlement priority to Christian refugees. The Christian leaders warned that the travel ban could backfire.
"Every reception policy that discriminates (between) the persecuted and suffering on religious grounds ultimately harms the Christians of the East" and would be "a trap for Christians in the Middle East," said Patriarch Louis Sako of Baghdad.
But Trump insists there is a need for a temporary travel freeze.
"I think our security is at risk today, and it will be at risk until such time we are entitled and get what we are entitled to as citizens of this country," he told the National Sheriffs' Association on Wednesday.
He said judges who are trying to overturn his executive order are simply motivated by politics.
