On February 23, 2026, President Trump published a lengthy post on Truth Social criticizing the Supreme Court's February 20 decision striking down most of his tariffs imposed under the International Economic Emergency Powers Act. In the same post, he predicted the Court would rule against his executive order ending birthright citizenship, which is scheduled for oral arguments on April 1.
Trump's executive order, signed on his first day in office in January 2025, seeks to deny automatic citizenship to children born in the U.S. to parents who are in the country illegally or on temporary visas. This challenges the longstanding interpretation of the 14th Amendment, which states that "all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens." The amendment was ratified in 1868 following the Civil War. An 1898 Supreme Court case, United States v. Wong Kim Ark, upheld birthright citizenship for a child born in San Francisco to Chinese immigrant parents.
In his post, Trump argued the 14th Amendment was intended only for children of former slaves, not children of temporary visa holders or unauthorized immigrants. He called the Court "incompetent" and said it would "find a way to come to the wrong conclusion, one that again will make China, and various other Nations, happy and rich." He exempted three justices from his criticism "-" Kavanaugh, Alito, and Thomas "-" who dissented in the tariff case. Lower courts have already blocked Trump's birthright citizenship policy, and the administration has appealed to the Supreme Court.
