Explained: Trump Administration’s Laptop Ban On Some US-Bound Flights

The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) proposed to temporarily ban electronic devices "larger than a cellphone" from being carried onto US-bound flights coming from ten airports located in eight Muslim-majority countries.

The affected airports are:
1. Cairo International Airport, Cairo, Egypt
2. Queen Alia International Airport, Amman, Jordan
3. Kuwait International Airport, Kuwait City, Kuwait
4. Mohammed V Airport, Casablanca, Morocco
5. Hamad International Airport, Doha, Qatar
6. King Abdulaziz International Airport, Jeddah, and King Khalid International Airport, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
7. Ataturk International Airport, Istanbul, Turkey
8. Abu Dhabi International Airport, Abu Dhabi, and Dubai International Airport, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

The United Kingdom has also proposed a similar ban.

Security experts have floated various theories to explain this move. Trump critics have been quick to pin the growing anti-Islam feeling and protectionism policy of the Trump administration on the ban, but there could be a possibility of a real threat to American security. This ban could well be a case of the government being proactive in preventing an attack.

The fact sheet on the DHS website states new intelligence has warranted this policy, but does not go into the specifics. The temporary ban can act as an extra layer of protection. Security expert Brian Jenkins told Bloomberg News that the government might be concerned about conspiracies involving airport or airline employees rather than passengers themselves.

Michael Chertoff, the former Homeland Security secretary, told the New York Times that the new policy made sense given the threats to aircraft from explosive devices, which can be embedded into electronic devices, and concerns about screening at the targeted airports.