A group of US officials told The Associated Press that the decision followed scrutiny from the Pentagon and state department, which advised the Trump administration to reconsider Iraq’s place on the list due to its role in helping to fight Islamic State.

President Trump is expected to sign a revised executive order in the coming days.

Citizens of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen will remain on the travel ban list, the sources said.

The new executive order includes further changes including no singling out Syrian refugees for an indefinite ban and it will now put them in a “general 120-day suspension” of new refugee admissions, The Associated Press reports.

The news gathering site added that the order would not include any “explicit exemption for religious minorities” in the countries targeted by the travel ban.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment by The Associated Press.

Trump’s original executive order came into force in January – sparking widespread travel confusion and protests across the US and the world.

Due to the sudden implementing of the order, a number of travellers were detained in U.S. airports before being deported and others were barred from boarding flights at international airports.

The legislation was later blocked by a federal judge in Washington and the blocking upheld by The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

In his first address to a joint session of Congress last night (February 28) Trump defended the travel ban.

"We will shortly take new steps to keep our nation safe and to keep out those who would do us harm," he told politicians.