Trump criticizes US as ‘stupid’ over birthright citizenship after Supreme Court hearing
The Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday over whether President Donald Trump’s executive order could overturn the longstanding constitutional guarantee of birthright citizenship for anyone born in the United States, regardless of their parents’ immigration status. Trump attended the session in person, marking the first time a sitting president has been present for arguments in such a case, known as Trump v. Barbara.
Trump remained in the courtroom for over an hour to hear Solicitor General D. John Sauer defend the order, leaving shortly after a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union presented arguments against it. Following the session, Trump criticized birthright citizenship in a social media post, calling the U.S. “stupid” for allowing it. If upheld, the order would strip tens of thousands of babies born each month to undocumented immigrants or visitors of automatic U.S. citizenship.
The order, signed on Trump’s first day back in the White House on January 20, 2025, stipulates that children born in the U.S. would not automatically receive citizenship documents if their parents are in the country illegally or without authorization. Sauer argued that automatic citizenship “demeans the priceless and profound gift of American citizenship” and serves as a “powerful pull factor” for illegal immigration, while also fostering birth tourism from foreign nationals seeking U.S. citizenship for their children.
Chief Justice John Roberts questioned the broad application of the order, noting that the examples cited by Sauer—such as children of ambassadors or enemies during wartime—were narrow exceptions and not representative of all children born to undocumented immigrants. Cecilla Wang, representing the ACLU, countered that the 14th Amendment clearly guarantees citizenship to anyone born in the United States, citing the landmark 1898 Wong Kim Ark case, which affirmed birthright citizenship for children born to noncitizen parents.
Trump’s executive order challenges over 150 years of legal interpretation of the 14th Amendment, which states, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States.” Federal courts have previously blocked the order, with district judges ruling it unconstitutional and appellate courts upholding injunctions preventing it from taking effect.
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