President Donald Trump became the first sitting president to attend oral arguments at the Supreme Court on Wednesday.
Just ten minutes before arguments were set to begin around the constitutionality of his executive order ending birthright citizenship, Trump entered the courtroom and took a front row seat. He sat for the entirety of the government’s argument, led by Solicitor General John Sauer. Soon after the American Civil Liberties Union lawyer Celia Wang began her argument, Trump abruptly rose and left. The president shared his thoughts on the hearing in a brief Truth Social post.
“We are the only Country in the World STUPID enough to allow “Birthright” Citizenship!” he wrote.
(This claim is incorrect. The United States is one of 33 countries to provide birthright citizenship, and around 50 more have some form of the practice with stricter conditions.)
Trump’s presence at the court didn’t cow the justices, who seemed deeply skeptical of the government’s argument. Addressing Sauer, Chief Justice John Roberts pointed toward contemporary civil rights laws that took a broad view of citizenship. Justice Amy Coney Barrett warned of a “messy” future under the law, with all sorts of questions about residency and citizenship.
Start your day with essential news from Salon.
Sign up for our free morning newsletter, Crash Course.
“How would it work? How would you adjudicate these cases?” You’re not going to know at the time of birth, for some people, whether they have the intent to stay or not — including U.S. citizens, by the way,” she said. “What if you have someone who is living in Norway with their husband and family, but is still a US citizen, comes home and has her child here, and goes back? How do we know whether the child is a US citizen because the parent didn’t have an intent to stay?”
