Trump is scheduled to sit in on Wednesday’s U.S. Supreme Court hearing on his administration’s effort to limit birthright citizenship, according to the White House schedule for the day. The appearance would make him the first sitting president to attend oral arguments at the nation’s highest court, the Associated Press reported.
The Supreme Court justices are scheduled to hear the case after a lower court struck down Trump’s executive order that sought to change when children born in the United States qualify as U.S. citizens. The administration is appealing that ruling to the Supreme Court.
Trump signed the executive order on the first day of his second term. The order declared that children born to parents who are in the United States illegally or temporarily are not American citizens, a shift from the long-standing approach that the Constitution’s 14th Amendment and federal law confer citizenship on people born on American soil, with narrow exceptions.
The order is part of a broader immigration crackdown, but it has not taken effect anywhere in the country because courts have blocked it. The Supreme Court is expected to issue a definitive decision by early summer, according to the Associated Press.
As Trump spoke with reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday, he indicated that he would attend the hearing. When asked about the upcoming arguments, Trump said, “I’m going,” and when a follow-up question clarified he planned to go in person, he said, “I think so, I do believe.”
The Associated Press also noted that Trump has previously dealt directly with the Supreme Court during his first term, when he attended ceremonies for two justices he appointed—Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh. The ceremony for the third appointee, Amy Coney Barrett, was delayed by a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and Trump did not attend because he was no longer in office.
Other presidents have appeared before the court in different contexts, including Richard Nixon, who argued a case between his time as vice president and president, and William Howard Taft, who served as chief justice after his presidency. The Associated Press said the current plan would mark a rare circumstance for a sitting president.
In comments Tuesday, Trump also described his view of the court, pointing to what he characterized as partisan divisions between justices appointed by Republican and Democratic presidents. He said, “I love a few of them,” and “I don’t like some others.”