Trump Goes to Supreme Court for Oral Arguments in Unprecedented Move
President Donald Trump attended oral arguments Wednesday as the Supreme Court began considering whether his birthright citizenship executive order passes constitutional muster.
Trump made history with his appearance, as no other sitting president has sat in on oral arguments at the high court.
On the day he took office in January 2025, Trump issued an executive order directing that only children born to parents “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States are citizens, quoting from the Fourteenth Amendment.
The impact would be that when children are born to people who are not legal residents, they are not U.S. citizens.
The Fourteenth Amendment reads, in part, “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.”
HISTORIC: President Donald J. Trump attends U.S. Supreme Court oral arguments on birthright citizenship, the first sitting president ever to do so. pic.twitter.com/EKdtcekbBb
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) April 1, 2026
Several lawsuits were filed around the country seeking to block the implementation of Trump’s order. Federal district courts issued injunctions putting it on hold, and then federal appeals courts in San Francisco, Boston, and Richmond, Virginia, upheld their decisions.
Some legal scholars have argued that the phrase “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” means the Fourteenth Amendment, ratified after the Civil War in 1868, only grants citizenship to babies born to citizens and lawful, permanent U.S. residents, i.e., green card holders. That is the position the Trump administration has taken.
Speaking to reporters at the White House Tuesday, Trump said, “This was about slaves … We’re talking about slaves from the Civil War. And if you take a look at when it was filed, all of this legislation, all of this everything having to do with birthright citizenship, it was at the end of the Civil War.”
“The reason was, it had to do with the babies of slaves, and the protection of the babies of slaves,” being recognized as U.S. citizens and the states where they live, the president argued.
After attending oral arguments, Trump posted on Truth Social, “We are the only Country in the World STUPID enough to allow ‘Birthright’ Citizenship!”
Donald J. Trump Truth Social Post 12:20 PM EST 04.01.26
We are the only Country in the World STUPID enough to allow “Birthright” Citizenship! President DONALD J. TRUMP
— Commentary Donald J. Trump Posts From Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) April 1, 2026
One of the exchanges at the Supreme Court that strengthened Trump’s view was delivered by Justice Samuel Alito, as he pointed out to ACLU attorney Cecillia Wang that “‘not subject to any foreign power’ is pretty straightforward.”
He offered the hypothetical example of an Iranian national who entered the U.S. illegally and had a son; that child would still be subject to Iran’s laws and would be required to do military service in his home country.
Wang countered that the language “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” in the Fourteenth Amendment referred to the children of foreign nationals serving as ambassadors in the U.S., but all others born in the country are automatically American citizens, regardless of whether the parents are here legally.
ACLU Attorney Cecillia Wang argues that any newborn child, regardless of their parents’ legal status and allegiance to foreign nations, even adversaries like Iran, should be granted citizenship without regard to said allegiance.
Completely damning. pic.twitter.com/9N2COqi2wk
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) April 1, 2026
U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer countered that notion in an exchange with Chief Justice John Roberts, arguing that the Civil Rights Act of 1866 makes clear that the language in the Fourteenth Amendment, which was passed by the same Congress, meant only people born in the U.S., “not subject to any foreign power,” are American citizens.
Fox News chief legal analyst Shannon Bream said following oral arguments, “Most on the bench seemed to think this executive order won’t pass constitutional muster.”
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