Trump calls Supreme Court's birthright citizenship ruling "massive win" for China

U.S. President Donald Trump has criticised the U.S. Supreme Court after it struck down his executive order restricting birthright citizenship, sarcastically congratulating China on what he called a "massive" victory.

"I would like to congratulate President Xi, and the Great Country of China, on their massive Birthright Citizenship WIN!" Trump wrote on Truth Social. 

In a separate post, Trump said he was disappointed by the court's decision and urged Congress to overturn birthright citizenship through legislation, arguing that the constitutional guarantee had been misapplied.

Trump has repeatedly defended his executive order, arguing that birthright citizenship was intended to protect the children of formerly enslaved people and was not meant to grant automatic citizenship to the children of billionaires from China or other countries.

The executive order, signed shortly after Trump's inauguration on January 20, 2025, directed federal agencies to deny U.S. citizenship to children born in the United States if their parents were in the country unlawfully. It also sought to deny citizenship where a child's mother was in the United States temporarily — including on a student, work or tourist visa or under the Visa Waiver Program — and the father was neither a U.S. citizen nor a lawful permanent resident.

The Supreme Court ruled that the order violated the U.S. Constitution's guarantee of birthright citizenship under the 14th Amendment, which grants citizenship to most people born on U.S. soil.

The 14th Amendment was adopted in 1868 following the American Civil War, overturning the 1857 Dred Scott v. Sandford decision, which had denied African Americans the right to U.S. citizenship.

Trump has argued that the amendment was intended to protect the children of formerly enslaved people rather than to provide automatic citizenship to the children of temporary visitors or migrants in the country illegally.

By Aghakazim Guliyev