Trump Goes Off on Key Constitutional Tenet: ‘One of the Many Great Scams of Our Time!’

President Donald Trump ripped birthright citizenship once again on Tuesday afternoon, claiming it was a “scam” that is being exploited by rich foreigners who come to the U.S. to give birth.

Trump argued in a Truth Social post that went against the spirit of the 14th Amendment, which was passed after the Civil War to grant citizenship to former slaves.

Here is what the president posted:

Birthright Citizenship has to do with the babies of slaves, not Chinese Billionaires who have 56 kids, all of whom “become” American Citizens. One of the many Great Scams of our time!

His post comes a day before the U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments in a case tied to a Trump executive order banning birthright citizenship, which grants citizenship to nearly everyone born on American soil; Trump signed the executive order on the first day of his second term. The Supreme Court will hear arguments after a lower court ruled his order was probably unconstitutional in July 2025.

Trump has argued several times in the past that “birth tourism” must end — including on Monday morning — with the president saying it is an issue of national security and public safety.

The 14th Amendment was passed in 1866 and ratified two years later in order to grant citizenship to Americans who were born as slaves. The amendment overturned the 1857 Dred Scott v. Sanford decision, which said slaves were not citizens.

“All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside,” the amendment said.

Trump’s executive order said that the amendment “rightly repudiated” the “shameful” Dred Scott decision, but argued it has been “misinterpreted” since then. Trump’s order said the aforementioned clause about being “subject to the jurisdiction” of the U.S. is the X factor in the case — and means kids born to foreign parents should not become citizens automatically.

“The Fourteenth Amendment has never been interpreted to extend citizenship universally to everyone born within the United States,” the order said. “The Fourteenth Amendment has always excluded from birthright citizenship persons who were born in the United States but not ‘subject to the jurisdiction thereof.'”

Coincidentally or not, Trump’s post on Tuesday came about 15 minutes after Will Cain did a segment on birthright citizenship on his Fox News show. Cain called out a Chinese billionaire who has had more than 100 kids via surrogacy in the U.S.

“Why would they do that? Because babies born here are automatically U.S. citizens,” Cain said. “Also, surrogacy is illegal in China.”

Cain added that countries in Europe are pushing back on birthright citizenship and that the U.S. is becoming more of an “outlier.”

Watch Cain’s segment above.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!