Donald Trump was enjoying the company of the Japanese prime minister, Shinzo Abe, in Florida on Saturday, but challenges to his agenda nonetheless intruded on a weekend of golf and dining.



After a federal appeals court on Thursday upheld a decision that blocked Trump’s travel ban against refugees and residents of seven Muslim-majority countries, the president was left flailing, struggling to implement the “extreme vetting” of those entering the US that was a staple of his campaign for the White House.

Tensions have also been raised in migrant communities around the US, over a series of raids carried out by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice).

Trump’s frustration was evident on Saturday morning, as he indulged his id with a typical 140-character burst on Twitter.

“Our legal system is broken!” he wrote, adding, with a citation of an article in the conservative Washington Times newspaper: “‘77% of refugees allowed into US since travel reprieve hail from seven suspect countries.’ (WT) SO DANGEROUS!”

On Air Force One on Friday, Trump told reporters he might issue a new executive order because “we need speed for reasons of security”.

He also said he was confident the administration would prevail in the courts on the original executive order, saying: “We will win that battle. The unfortunate part is that it takes time statutorily.”

A new order would allow the White House to implement the ban again while the legal fight was being waged over the first directive, which was issued in Trump’s first week in office.

A White House official told the Guardian: “We are reviewing every single option in the court system, including a supreme court appeal on the temporary restraining order, and are confident we will prevail on the merits of the case. Additionally, we are actively pursuing other executive orders that will keep our country safe from terrorism.”

The Ice raids were the first major immigration enforcement actions since Trump took office and signed an executive order which broadened the range of undocumented migrants considered to be priorities for deportation. Ice officials characterized the raids as “routine” and said many of those detained had criminal records.

Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump, hidden at left, dine with the Japanese prime minister, Shinzo Abe, third from left, and his wife Akie Abe, right, at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, on Friday. Photograph: Susan Walsh/AP

The raids raised concerns among advocates for undocumented migrants, especially in light of Trump’s strident rhetoric on the campaign trail, in which he repeatedly promised to deport millions of people.

The Ice field office director in Los Angeles told the Guardian on Friday some people held in the raids were simply charged with being in the US illegally, but denied reports that some of those held had been denied access to attorneys.

Trump also addressed the subject of his promised wall on the US border with Mexico on Twitter on Saturday.

“I am reading that the great border WALL will cost more than the government originally thought,” he wrote, “but I have not gotten involved in the design or negotiations yet.

“When I do, just like with the F-35 FighterJet or the Air Force One Program, price will come WAY DOWN!”

The president also faces persistent foreign policy challenges, particularly over allegations that the national security adviser, Mike Flynn, discussed sanctions relief with Russia’s ambassador to the US while Barack Obama was still president.

Officials including Vice-President Mike Pence have long denied that Flynn discussed sanctions with the ambassador, an allegation now reported by multiple outlets, based on a transcript of a call shared by intelligence sources. If true, Flynn’s actions would violate the Logan Act, an obscure 18th-century law that prevents private citizens from conducting negotiations with foreign governments.

Asked by reporters aboard Air Force One about the report, Trump said: “I don’t know about that. I haven’t seen it. What report is that? I haven’t seen that. I’ll look into that.”

Concerns over Trump’s ties to Russia have increased following what US intelligence agencies believe to have been an attempt by the Putin regime to influence the election on Trump’s behalf.

Melania Trump and Akie Abe, wife of the Japanese prime minister, feed fish during a tour of Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens in Delray Beach, Florida, on Saturday. Photograph: Joe Skipper/Reuters

Trump, who has accepted such beliefs but also used the issue to stoke discord between the White House and the intelligence agencies, has long viewed Putin through rose-colored glasses, telling Fox News host Bill O’Reilly in an interview aired last Sunday: “I do respect Putin.”

When O’Reilly noted that Putin was “a killer”, Trump responded by saying: “We’ve got a lot of killers. What, do you think our country’s so innocent?”

That statement brought condemnation from major figures in both parties, appalled that a president of the US would suggest moral equivalency between his country and an authoritarian regime.

On Saturday, Trump seemed to be achieving diplomatic success with the visit of Abe, whom he described as “a friend”. The two men had a “very, very good bond and chemistry”, Trump said at a press conference at the White House on Friday.

The two first met shortly after the election, in a Trump Tower meeting attended by Trump’s daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner. The two leaders were spending this weekend at Trump’s private club in Florida, Mar-a-Lago. On Friday, they and their wives ate dinner with Robert Kraft, the owner of the Super Bowl-winning New England Patriots. Saturday brought golf for Trump and Abe and a cultural visit for Melania Trump and Akie Abe.

The Abe visit represented the beginning of a busy spell of diplomacy for Trump, in which he will host the Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, and Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

Trudeau has been a vocal critic of Trump’s policies towards refugees. He also comes to Washington to meet a president who has mused openly about pulling out of Nafta, the free-trade agreement between the US, Canada and Mexico.

The Netanyahu visit may also produce fireworks. Although Trump has boasted about his ardent support of the state of Israel and campaigned on moving the US embassy there from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, he has changed his tone in recent days.

The president has wavered on the embassy move and, in an interview on Thursday with the Israeli newspaper Israel HaYom, suggested that Israeli settlements in the West Bank are not “good for peace”.