Donald Trump openly mocked Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Monday for offering 'fake tears' during a press conference he held to condemn the president's executive order restricting U.S. arrivals of some Middle Eastern travelers.

'I noticed that Chuck Schumer yesterday, with fake tears – I'm going to ask him, who's his acting coach?' Trump jabbed as he met with a group of small business Monday morning at the White House.

'Because I know him very well. I don't see him as a crier – if he is, he's a different man. There's about a 5 per cent chance that it was real, but I think it was fake tears,' the president said.

Hours later during a briefing with reporters, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Schumer's tears would be more believable if he had shown similar concern for his New York constituents as their economic situations worsened during the Obama years.

President Donald Trump accused Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of using 'fake tears' to mobilize protesters Sunday as the aftermath of a new refugee travel ban policy took hold

Trump mocked Schumer, the Senate majority leader, for tearing up on Sunday while he condemned the executive order as 'mean-spirited and un-American'

'Where has Senator Schumer's tears been for all the other problems that are going on this Ameri – in this country?' Spicer asked. 'For the homeless. For the people through New York that are searching for jobs.'

'It's interesting that in eight years, with all the stuff that's going on in this country in terms of crime and the economy, I haven't seen too many tears coming from Senator Schumer.'

The New York Democrat appeared Sunday with a group of resettled refugees and offered 'a vociferous "no" to the president and the misguided executive orders that are shocking to a majority of Americans and are inflicting wounds on this country.'

'This executive order,' he said, appearing overcome with emotion, 'was mean-spirited and un-American.'

'It was implemented in a way that created chaos and confusion across the country, and it will only serve to embolden and inspire those around the globe who would do us harm.'

TV networks carried Schumer's comments in news packages as the emblematic response to a policy that had caused needless grief and fear among newly arriving U.S. visitors and existing permanent residents.

But Trump dismissed the senator during his regular morning tweet-cycle, along with concerns of thousands of protesters, saying only a small number of international travelers were delayed at U.S. airports.

Trump: "I noticed Chuck Schumer yesterday with fake tears – I'm going to ask him, who is his acting coach?"; pic.twitter.com/8rCy8PyyqN

Trump went on offense Monday morning against naysayers who question his Friday executive order temporarily banning incoming travelers from seven terrorism hotbeds

The president wrote on Twitter that a Delta Airlines computer outage, Schumer's choked-up plea for changes, and the agitators themselves caused more significant problems.

Thousands of demonstrators descended on major airports including those in New York, Los Angeles and Dallas, complaining about Middle Eastern refugees whose arrival to America was slowed by as many as 24 hours after a Trump executive order went into effect.

The order demanded a 90-day halt to new visas for people in seven terror-prone countries and 'extreme vetting' of arriving passengers who had already done their paperwork – leading to delays for 109 of them.

'Only 109 people out of 325,000 were detained and held for questioning. Big problems at airports were caused by Delta computer outage, protesters and the tears of Senator Schumer,' Trump wrote on Twitter.

Trump tweeted that a Delta Airlines computer outage and a crush of protesters caused greater airport problems than the unexpected detention of 109 incoming travelers

Trump wrote that 'there is nothing nice about searching for terrorists,' and defended his administration's decision to avoid telegraphing its intentions in advance

The mocking reference to Schumer, the Senate minority leader, singled him out for a halting, tearful complaint Sunday that the partial travel ban was 'un-American.'

'Secretary Kelly said that all is going well with very few problems,' Trump tweeted, referring to newly minted Homeland Security Secretary Gen. John Kelly. 'MAKE AMERICA SAFE AGAIN!'

'There is nothing nice about searching for terrorists before they can enter our country. This was a big part of my campaign. Study the world!' he wrote.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Monday on MSNBC's 'Morning Joe' that 'I understand when you look at it on television, you pick our one individual or two individuals. But we're talking about 109 people that were slowed down.'

The Delta Airlines computer outage stranded customers nationwide on Sunday

He said some airport officials were caught unawares because the White House didn't want to risk giving would-be terrorists a reason to 'flood into the country' by telegraphing its plans.

I think that what happened is initially, because of the way that we had to roll this out, for security purposes, to protect our own country and our people, we did it in a way – but it happened. And it's over. And right now everything is flowing perfectly.'

Delta suffered a worldwide computer outage on Sunday night that grounded all the airline's flights and stranded thousands of domestic passengers for hours.

'I want to apologize to all of our customers who have been impacted by this frustrating situation,' Delta CEO Ed Bastian said in a statement.

'This type of disruption is not acceptable to the Delta family who prides itself on reliability and customer service. I also want to thank our employees who are working tirelessly to accommodate our customers.'

The airline saw its share price fall as soon as trading began and continued to lose value over the course of the morning.