Trump rages – President Donald Trump used a Thursday press conference to blast the Supreme Court over a looming birthright citizenship case, predicting a ruling against him and calling any potential decision to preserve the current 14th Amendment interpretation an economic
When President Donald Trump sat down at a Thursday press conference and fielded a question about what’s “at stake” in an upcoming Supreme Court ruling, his anger didn’t wait for the calendar.
“It’s a big decision that we’re waiting for from the Supreme Court. ” Trump said as he took a detour to complain about the Court’s prior ruling on his tariffs. He described what he called a “terrible tariff decision. ” saying it would force the government to “most likely” pay back $149 billion. In his telling. the Court told the administration to adjust how it handled the tariff policy. and he said the White House is now pursuing a different approach—while stressing he expects taxpayers to foot the bill.
That backdrop mattered to Trump as he turned back to birthright citizenship. a fight he framed as both existential and personal. “Now we have another one coming up, which is birthright citizenship,” he said. “And we’re the only country in the world that has it.” In his remarks. Trump argued that the United States’ birthright citizenship rule—he said children become citizens after “you step into our country”—was never intended to cover children of the wealthy or the globally connected.
He pointed to what he said the original purpose of the citizenship guarantee was: “this was meant for the babies of slaves.” Trump linked that intent to the historical period in which the policy took shape, saying it was “signed during — right after — the civil war.”
Trump’s sharpest claim was economic. If the Supreme Court allows birthright citizenship to continue as it has existed under the 14th Amendment. he said the outcome would be an “economic ‘disaster’” for the United States. He predicted that “25 percent of the people coming into our country” would arrive through birthright citizenship and that. as a result. “we won’t have any control.”.
He then signaled the direction he believes the Court will take. Trump said he expects the Supreme Court “will probably” rule against him, describing a pattern he believes the justices follow. “They’ll probably will against me because they seem to like doing that. ” he said. adding that he is “not happy with some of the decisions.” He cited NIL and said courts have acted in ways he believes are “destroying college sports” and “destroying universities.”.
With the discussion returning again to the citizenship question, Trump grew more direct—and more confrontational. “Birthright citizenship is done by no other country. no other country in the world. the way we’re doing it. ” he said. He called the United States a “laughingstock” and warned that if the Supreme Court “approves that decision. ” the justices would have done a “great disservice to the United States of America.”.
His argument also carried a moral charge. Trump declared: “It would be a disgrace. It would be a disgrace if the Supreme Court of the United States allows that to happen.” He repeated his projection that “20 to 25 percent of the people coming into our country will come in through birthright citizenship. ” arguing the impact would be “cost us numbers that are — I don’t even think they’re doable.”.
Trump also criticized the people bringing the suit, telling reporters: “Look at the people that are bringing this suit. Study the people that are bringing the suit. These are not people that love our country, I can tell you that.”
The legal fight he’s reacting to comes after Trump signed an executive order aimed at limiting birthright citizenship. Upon his return to the White House for his second term. he signed an order seeking to void birthright citizenship for children born to parents who are either in the U.S. illegally or on temporary visas.
In the weeks ahead, the Supreme Court is expected to decide whether the executive order violates the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment in the case identified in the materials as Trump v. Barbara. Many outlets anticipate a ruling against the Trump administration in this case.
That prospect is exactly what Trump used Thursday to rail against—linking the Court’s expected decision on birthright citizenship to a broader sense of grievance about recent rulings and immediate costs, even as he insisted the stakes are national and long-term.
The Supreme Court’s action on the executive order will decide whether Trump’s effort to narrow citizenship at birth can survive constitutional scrutiny. For Trump, the question isn’t only legal. It’s whether the Court will. in his words. turn the country into something weaker—economically uncontrolled. internationally ridiculed. and. in his view. fundamentally wrong.
Trump Supreme Court SCOTUS birthright citizenship 14th Amendment executive order Citizenship Clause Trump v. Barbara tariffs $149 billion