US Politics
Trump to attend oral arguments in Supreme Court birthright citizenship case in a first for sitting president
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Donald Trump said he plans to attend oral arguments in a Supreme Court hearing that could see the end of birthright U.S. citizenship, the first time in history a sitting president has done so.
“I think I’ll go,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office Tuesday. “I have listened to this argument for so long.”
On Wednesday morning the Supreme Court will hear arguments in the controversial case that will decide whether Trump can deny citizenship to children born to parents who are in the U.S. illegally or temporarily.
It follows from an executive order Trump signed on the first day after returning to office ending what’s known as birthright citizenship, which guarantees citizenship to nearly everyone born on U.S. soil.
The president’s attendance in court to hear the arguments in the high court is the first on official record, according to SCOTUS and the nonprofit Supreme Court Historical Society, NBC reported.
Trump previously went to confirmation hearings for his Supreme Court picks Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, and also attended court in New York for his own high-profile hush money trial in 2024 , where he was convicted of 34 counts of fraud while still president-elect.
The Independent has contacted the White House for confirmation that the president will be attending the hearing. A spokesperson said they had nothing to add further to Trump’s comments.
In the U.S., birthright citizenship was enshrined in the Constitution after the Civil War, in part to ensure that former slaves would be citizens. “All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States,” the 14th Amendment states.
In the late 1800s, birthright citizenship was legally expanded to the children of immigrants.
Trump posted on Truth Social earlier Tuesday, “Birthright Citizenship has to do with the babies of slaves, not Chinese Billionaires who have 56 kids, all of whom “become” American Citizens. One of the many Great Scams of our time! President DONALD J. TRUMP.”
Supporters of birthright restrictions in the U.S. focus on a handful of words in the constitutional amendment: “subject to the jurisdiction thereof.” They argue that the phrase means the U.S. can deny citizenship to children born to women who are in the country illegally.
A series of judges have ruled against the administration and the order has been repeatedly put on hold by lower courts. Wednesday’s case originated in New Hampshire, where a U.S. district judge ruled the order “likely violates” both the Constitution and federal law.
It comes after Trump publicly blasted the justices, including some of those he appointed, over their rejection of his sweeping global tariffs, even going so far as to call them “disloyal to the Constitution.”
At the time he also threatened to go to the hearings, but did not.
Several justices, including Chief Justice John Roberts have already pushed back against personal attacks on the judiciary.
“The problem sometimes is that the criticism can move from a focus on legal analysis to personalities,” Roberts said during remarks given at the University of Houston earlier this month. “And you see from all over, I mean, not just any one political perspective on it, that it’s more directed in a personal way, and that, frankly, can be actually quite dangerous.”
