President Donald Trump said he will attend Wednesday’s Supreme Court arguments on the constitutionality of birthright citizenship, which his administration is fighting to strike down.
Trump, 79, told reporters in the Oval Office that he would hear his lawyers claim that children born to parents who are in the country illegally or temporarily shouldn’t be granted citizenship under the 14th Amendment.
“I’m going... I do believe, because I have listened to this argument for so long, and this is not about Chinese billionaires who are billionaires from other countries who all of a sudden have 75 children or 59 children in one case, or 10 children, becoming American citizens. This was about slaves,” Trump said.
The 14th Amendment, adopted three years after the Civil War ended, states that “all persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside.” Congress codified the citizenship clause in the Nationality Act of 1940 and then again 12 years later.
“If you take a look at when it was filed, all of this legislation, everything having to do with birthright citizenship, it was at the end of the Civil War,” Trump claimed. “The reason was it had to do with the babies of slaves and the protection of the babies of slaves. It did not have to do with the protection of multimillionaires and billionaires wanting to have their children get American citizenship.”
Trump then complained at length about how the issue has been “so badly handled by legal people,” and once again railed against some Supreme Court justices—including some he appointed.
About Democratic appointees, Trump griped, “I don‘t care how good your case is. You can have the greatest case ever and they are going to rule against you. They always do, and it is not supposed to be that way.”
As for justices whom Republicans put on the bench, “They want to show how honorable they are, so a man can appoint them, and they can rule against him, and they are so proud of it,” Trump said, before imitating them. “‘We are so proud we ruled against Trump. We are above.’”
The court notably struck down Trump’s tariffs last month.
Someone helping Trump appeal to all justices this time is 2020 election denier John Eastman, who was barred from practicing law over his failed election subversion efforts.
Though Trump did not mention Eastman, 65, during Tuesday’s comments, the disgraced attorney has been described as the driving force behind Trump’s campaign. Eastman has reportedly been pushing Trump to end birthright citizenship since the president’s first term in office.
