President Donald Trump‘s presence at the Supreme Court this week may not sway the justices, who appeared skeptical of the president’s push to curb birthright citizenship for undocumented immigrants.
But Trump’s historic appearance — no sitting president has attended oral arguments at the high court before — showcased the president’s great interest in his landmark effort to upend more than a century of legal precedent that allowed automatic citizenship to those born in the U.S.
And the president’s presence at the Supreme Court may pack a political punch by energizing MAGA voters ahead of the midterm elections, when Republicans will be defending their fragile House and Senate majorities.
INSIDE THE SUPREME COURT: HOW TRUMP HEARD BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP ARGUMENTS
“Immigration is the issue that has most defined Donald Trump during his time as a national political figure, and his record on border security remains one of the core accomplishments of his second term,” longtime Republican strategist Colin Reed told Fox News Digital.
Reed emphasized that “even if the Supreme Court does not side with his perspective in this particular case, the president is making clear that he is not abandoning his commitment to the broader issue.”
TRUMP MAKES HISTORIC APPEARANCE AT THE SUPREME COURT
On his first day back in the White House last year, Trump signed an executive order which declared that children born in the U.S. to undocumented immigrants or those on limited-duration visas would no longer be granted U.S. citizenship.
But the order never took effect, after it was quickly hit with a slew of lawsuits and was subsequently blocked by federal judges from coast to coast who argued it violated long-standing legal precedent.
The president on Wednesday stayed quiet until after he left the court, and after the arguments in the case concluded, before taking to social media to write, “We are the only Country in the World STUPID enough to allow ‘Birthright’ Citizenship!”
Most Americans appear to disagree.
Sixty-nine percent of voters support birthright citizenship for children born in the United States to illegal immigrants, according to a Fox News national poll conducted March 20-23.
EXPERTS FLAG ‘DISAPPOINTING’ QUESTIONS FROM JUSTICES IN BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP CASE
But there’s a wide partisan divide, with 91% of Democrats and three-quarters of independents but only 44% of Republicans supporting birthright citizenship in such cases.
A majority of Republicans questioned in the poll, 55%, disagreed. And among self-described MAGA Republicans, opposition edged up to 60%.
“Combating illegal immigration has always been President Trump’s strongest issue, and he’s made our borders more secure than they’ve ever been. He’s obviously fighting a lot of battles and birthright citizenship is one of them,” seasoned Republican communicator Tim Murtaugh told Fox News Digital.
Murtaugh, a veteran of Trump’s 2020 and 2024 presidential campaigns, said “the president’s attendance at the oral arguments shows how much he cares about the issue, and draws a far brighter spotlight onto the illogic of birthright citizenship than would otherwise have happened if he hadn’t shown up.”
And Murtaugh sees the issue putting Democrats on defense in the midterms.
“It’s possible that the court will say that Congress must address the issue. If so, this would be highly relevant in the midterm elections because Democrats are very much going to be put on the defensive for their support of illegal aliens and lawlessness,” Murtaugh argued.
Immigration and border security were winning issues for Trump and Republicans and helped fuel their sweeping victories in the 2024 elections, when they won back the White House and the Senate and defended their House majority.
But in the wake of political backlash earlier this year over Trump’s unprecedented illegal immigration crackdown, polling on the issue raises warning signs for Republicans and suggests immigration may come back to take a bite out of the GOP in the midterms.
“Let’s be clear: Ending birthright citizenship is central to Trump’s broader radical agenda to target immigrant families,” Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin charged. “If Trump gets his way, overturning birthright citizenship will create chaos in our communities.”
Fox News’ Ashley Oliver and Victoria Balara contributed to this story.
