US President Donald Trump is resurrecting the travel ban policy from his first term, signing a proclamation on Wednesday night preventing people from a dozen countries from entering the United States.

The countries include Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.

In addition to the ban, which takes effect at 12:01 am on Monday, there will be heightened restrictions on visitors from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.

“I must act to protect the national security and national interest of the United States and its people,” Trump said in his proclamation.

The list results from a January 20 executive order Trump issued requiring the departments of State and Homeland Security and the Director of National Intelligence to compile a report on “hostile attitudes” toward the US and whether entry from certain countries represented a national security risk.

During his first term, Trump issued an executive order in January 2017 banning travel to the US by citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries - Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen.

Trump on Wednesday also ordered his administration to investigate former president Joe Biden's use of an autopen to sign pardons and other documents.

An autopen is a mechanical device that is used to replicate a person’s authentic signature, and presidents have used them for decades.

However, Trump has frequently suggested that some of Biden's actions are invalid because his aides were usurping presidential authority to cover up what Trump claims is Biden's cognitive decline.

Trump directed Attorney General Pam Bondi and White House Counsel David Warrington to handle the investigation. (AP)