WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump’s unprecedented attendance at a Supreme Court argument over birthright citizenship comes after he has repeatedly criticized justices and other judges who have ruled against him in previous cases.
Trump has focused most of his ire on two justices he appointed, Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett, who joined the 6-3 majority that ruled the president wasn’t authorized to impose emergency tariffs.
But Trump has also tangled during both of his terms with Chief Justice John Roberts over the president's criticism of judges ruling against him. Roberts has responded without naming Trump that personal hostility against judges "is dangerous and it's got to stop."
No sitting president has previously attended a Supreme Court argument. Trump had previously considered attending the tariff argument, but he decided against it.
Trump’s attendance would be unprecedented. Former President Richard Nixon appeared as a lawyer before the high court. William Howard Taft served as president before joining the court as chief justice. And former President John Quincy Adams, who was then serving in the House, argued the Amistad case before the high court in 1841.
