President Donald Trump suddenly left the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday morning after a little more than an hour in the courtroom. As justices deliberated over the constitutionality of his order aiming to terminate birthright citizenship for children born in the United States to parents who are either temporarily or illegally in the country, he departed.
Before the plaintiff started presenting her case, Trump left soon after Solicitor General John Sauer finished his presentation, seemingly only attending the government’s portion of the arguments. He is the first president in office to attend the nation’s highest court’s oral arguments.
The top representative of the federal government before the Supreme Court is D. John Sauer, the U.S. solicitor general. After serving as Missouri’s solicitor general from 2017 to 2023, he was appointed to the position by President Trump and assumed office in April 2025.
Sauer currently oversees appellate advocacy on behalf of the United States and represents the federal government in Supreme Court cases at the Justice Department.
Soon after he left the Supreme Court, the president took to social media to deliver a pointed message.
“We are the only Country in the World STUPID enough to allow ‘Birthright’ Citizenship! ” the president wrote on his Truth Social site.
The Supreme Court case concerns whether children born in the United States to parents who are not legally present automatically become citizens of the United States, as well as the extent of birthright citizenship under the U.S. Constitution.
Although precedent has long been thought to have resolved the matter, legal challenges aiming to restrict that interpretation have brought it back to life.
The Supreme Court announced in December it would hear arguments in a case challenging birthright citizenship, the constitutional principle that grants U.S. citizenship to nearly all children born on American soil as laid out in the Fourteenth Amendment.
The case centers on a statutory and constitutional question over whether the amendment’s Citizenship Clause applies to children born in the United States to parents who are not legal permanent residents. The plaintiffs argue that the original meaning of the clause does not extend automatic citizenship to children of parents in the country illegally.
The justices agreed to take up the appeal after lower courts rejected constitutional challenges brought by a group of petitioners who had sought to limit birthright citizenship. Oral arguments are expected to focus on historical evidence and interpretations of the 14th Amendment’s text and intent of Congress at the time the post-Civil War measure was ratified.
Richard Pildes, a professor of constitutional law at New York University, told NBC News that Trump’s presence during oral arguments “certainly raises the temperature of the argument, which might be the President’s intent.”
“The case is about the powers of the presidency as an institution,” Pildes said in an email. “By showing up in person, the President would instead be personalizing the case, as if it’s a personal confrontation between him and the justices.”
The case, Trump v. Barbara, challenges the legality of an executive order issued by Trump his first day back in office, January 20, 2025. The order terminates automatic citizenship for children born in the United States to parents who are in the country without lawful status or who are only temporarily present.
The Supreme Court’s decision to hear the case comes amid ongoing national debate over immigration policy and border security, with supporters of ending birthright citizenship saying it will reduce incentives for illegal immigration and critics warning that any change could leave thousands of U.S.-born citizens in legal limbo.
Observers say Wednesday’s session will be one of the most closely-watched cases of the term, with potential implications for millions of people and longstanding U.S. immigration law.
A ruling in the case could reshape federal immigration policy and raise questions about citizenship status for children born in the country to parents without lawful status. The Supreme Court is not expected to issue a decision before late June.