WASHINGTON, Feb 23 (Yonhap) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday unleashed a blistering attack on the U.S. Supreme Court after it struck down his flagship second-term policy on reciprocal tariffs, accusing the justices of siding with foreign countries and predicting they would next rule in favor of China.
In a series of posts on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump said the court “will next rule for China and other countries that are making a fortune off of birthright citizenship,” tying his anger over the tariff decision to a separate pending case on his effort to curb automatic citizenship for children of non‑citizens.
Trump, who referred to the institution throughout his posts in lowercase as “supreme court,” said it would be written that way “for a while based on complete disrespect,” and branded the ruling “ridiculous, stupid, and internationally very divisive.”
The Supreme Court recently invalidated Trump’s reciprocal tariff policy, a central plank of his second-term trade agenda, dealing a significant blow to his efforts to pressure trading partners with matching duties. The White House has not yet announced its legal or policy response to the decision.
Trump suggested the court was poised to deal him another setback in a separate, high‑stakes case over birthright citizenship now before the justices. On Jan. 20 last year, the first day of his second term, he signed an executive order barring automatic U.S. citizenship for children born in the United States to parents who are in the country illegally or lack permanent residency.
That order was struck down as unconstitutional by a lower court and is currently under Supreme Court review. Trump argued the justices would again “find a way to reach the wrong conclusion that will make China and many countries happy and rich.”
He also preemptively challenged the court’s interpretation of the 14th Amendment, which states that “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States,” and has long been understood to guarantee birthright citizenship.
Trump claimed the court would assert that the amendment “was not written to protect ‘children of slaves,’ even though its drafting, submission, proposal, and approval coincided exactly with the end of the Civil War,” suggesting the justices were prepared to distort its historical purpose.
In one post, Trump contended that the tariff ruling had backfired on the court itself. He said the decision had “accidentally and unknowingly gave me even more power and strength than I had before this ridiculous, stupid, and internationally very divisive ruling,” without explaining how the decision might expand his authority.
He went on to describe what he called “our incompetent supreme court” as having “did a great job for the wrong people,” adding that the justices “should be ashamed of themselves for it.” His language marked one of his most direct and personal broadsides against the court since returning to office.
The president has repeatedly clashed with judicial rulings that constrain his immigration and trade policies, often framing the courts as obstacles to his “America First” agenda and accusing judges of undermining national sovereignty. His latest comments risk further straining relations between the executive and judicial branches as they confront politically charged cases.
Trump ended his online tirade by warning that “our supreme court” would “continue to make decisions that are very harmful to the future of our country,” before pivoting back to his signature political slogan. “I have work to do. Make America Great Again,” he wrote.
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