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Donald Trump's travel ban on mostly Muslim countries does not discriminate or exceed the president's authority, the US supreme court has ruled.

The country's highest court rejected a challenge which claimed the ban on travel from five mostly Muslim countries discriminates against Muslims.

It ruled 5-4 that the most recent version of the ban, which the Trump administration claims is justified by national security concerns, was valid.

Mr Trump reacted to his major victory by tweeting: "SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS TRUMP TRAVEL BAN. Wow!"

He then called the ruling "a tremendous victory for the American people and the constitution".

Speaking after the ruling, Mr Trump said: "We have to be tough and we have to be safe, and we have to be secure."

He added: "We know who is coming in, we know where they're coming from. We just have to know who is coming here."

Explaining the reason for throwing out the challenge, chief justice John Roberts wrote that presidents have substantial power to regulate immigration.

"In short, the language... is clear, and the proclamation does not exceed any textual limit on the president's authority," he wrote.

"The government has set forth a sufficient national security justification to survive rational basis review."

However, he was careful not to endorse either Mr Trump's provocative statements about immigration in general, or Muslims in particular.

"We express no view on the soundness of the policy," he added.

Justices Sonio Sotomayor, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer and Elena Kagan were the four who did not reject the challenge.

Justice Sotomayor said: "History will not look kindly on the court's misguided decision today, nor should it."

She said based on evidence "a reasonable observer would conclude that the proclamation was motivated by anti-Muslim animus".

And she said her colleagues who voted against the challenge were "ignoring the facts, misconstruing our legal precedent and turning a blind eye to the pain and suffering the proclamation inflicts upon countless families and individuals, many of whom are United States citizens".

The decision was made following a court hearing in April and is the culmination of a battle that began just days after Mr Trump took office in January 2017.

Travel bans came fully into force in December when supreme court justices overruled lower courts.

Travellers from five countries with overwhelmingly Muslim populations - Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen - were banned from travelling to the US.

Two non-Muslim countries are also affected, with North Korean travellers blocked and some Venezuelan government officials and their families.

Chad, a Muslim majority country, was removed from the list in April after improving "its identity-management and information sharing practices," Mr Trump said.

His administration used the Chad decision to show the restrictions are only for national security reasons.

However, the challengers argued the court could not ignore everything that has happened, starting with Mr Trump's campaign tweets to prevent any Muslims entering the US.