Trump Shows Up at Supreme Court Hearing Who He Brought with Him STUNS Courtroom
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President Donald Trump took the unprecedented step of attending oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday as his administration fights to uphold his early executive order banning birthright citizenship.
Trump reportedly arrived about 10 minutes before the session began, marking the first time in history that a president has attended a Supreme Court session.] “I’m going,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday. “Because I have listened to this argument for so long.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi traveled in the motorcade with Trump and will sit with him on Wednesday to listen to oral arguments in the birthright citizenship case.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed to NBC News that Trump planned to attend Supreme Court oral arguments on Wednesday concerning the constitutionality of a January 2025 executive order that seeks to limit birthright citizenship to individuals with at least one parent who is a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident.
According to the court and the Supreme Court Historical Society, there is no official record of a sitting president attending oral arguments at the Supreme Court.
Trump has previously attended ceremonial events at the court, including those confirming his appointees Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, but has not attended arguments before.
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.”
Presidents have typically avoided attending oral arguments, as there is a consensus that the court’s decisions pertain to the presidency as an institution rather than to any individual president’s term in office.
“They have understood it’s not good for the country to up the level of confrontation by representing the dispute as a more personalized one through showing up in person,” Pildes said.
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.
part 1
The black duffel bag hit the porch with a heavy thud.
Its zipper burst open.
Everything inside spilled across the wooden boards.
At first, nobody moved.
Then Sheriff Daniels stepped forward.
A black handgun slid across the porch until it stopped against the front step.
His hand instantly went to his holster.
"Nobody move!"
Gasps rippled through the crowd.
The cameraman zoomed in.
Beside the handgun lay dozens of unopened envelopes.
Every one of them carried military postage.
Every one of them was addressed to:
Mr. and Mrs. Richard Parker
The return address read:
Sergeant Emily Parker
Camp Arifjan, Kuwait.
The dates stretched across four years.
Some envelopes were faded from heat.
Others were still sealed with military tape.
Mrs. Ellis whispered, "Those are her letters..."
Pastor Ray slowly picked one up from the porch.
"It hasn't even been opened."
Another envelope.
Still sealed.
Then another.
Twenty.
Thirty.
More than anyone could count.
Mr. Greer's face turned pale.
"I delivered every one of those."
Nobody answered.
Inside the house came the sound of something crashing.
Emily couldn't breathe.
"I wrote every month."
Her voice barely carried.
"I never missed a birthday... never missed Christmas... never missed Mom's anniversary after her surgery."
She looked toward the windows.
"You never read them?"
Silence.
Sheriff Daniels carefully picked up the pistol using a handkerchief.
"This weapon isn't loaded."
Deputy Harris stepped beside him.
"Serial number's still intact."
Daniels stared.
His expression changed.
"I know this gun."
The deputy frowned.
"What?"
"It was reported stolen."
"When?"
"Almost six years ago."
He looked toward the Parker house.
"By Richard Parker."
The entire crowd turned toward the front door.
Inside, someone shouted.
"No!"
Then another crash.
Mr. Greer suddenly remembered something.
"I have something."
He hurried back to his mail truck.
People watched him disappear into the driver's seat.
A moment later he returned carrying a thick leather folder.
"I wasn't sure I'd ever need this."
He handed it to the sheriff.
Daniels opened it.
Inside were photocopies.
Certified mail receipts.
Postal forwarding forms.
Rejected delivery notices.
Every document carried Richard Parker's signature.
The sheriff flipped page after page.
"Refused."
"Refused."
"Refused."
"Forward to sender."
Again.
Again.
Again.
Mr. Greer's voice trembled.
"Four years ago your parents came to the post office."
"They told us you were dangerous."
"They said if any military mail arrived, they didn't want it."
Emily stared at him.
"They said that?"
He nodded sadly.
"They claimed you'd threatened the family before you went away."
Mrs. Ellis burst into tears.
"Oh my God..."
Pastor Ray slowly removed his glasses.
"I told the congregation to pray for Richard and Linda."
"I thought they were grieving."
Across the street, whispers spread through the neighbors.
"I remember..."
"They said she assaulted someone."
"I heard she'd robbed a store."
"No... they told me she'd attacked her own father."
Every rumor.
Every lie.
Every cruel glance Emily had imagined while overseas...
Suddenly made sense.
She felt her knees weaken.
Mr. Greer caught her before she fell.
"You don't owe these people an apology."
Emily wiped away tears.
"I kept wondering why nobody answered."
She laughed bitterly.
"I thought everyone had forgotten me."
The sheriff continued examining the folder.
Then he stopped.
One document had a different heading.
Application for Declaration of Death in Absentia.
Daniels frowned.
"What is this?"
He read farther.
The filing claimed Emily Parker had been "missing with probable criminal activity."
Attached was a request to transfer ownership of her college trust, vehicle title, and military survivor benefits.
The application carried two signatures.
Richard Parker.
Linda Parker.
The crowd gasped.
"They tried to declare her legally dead?" someone whispered.
"No..."
"They couldn't..."
Emily's head snapped toward the house.
"My college trust?"
Her father had promised that account would always belong to her.
She had worked two jobs through high school because they insisted every dollar mattered.
Now...
Her stomach twisted.
They had tried to erase her completely.
Inside the house, another loud bang echoed.
Deputy Harris looked toward the sheriff.
"They're moving."
Daniels nodded once.
"Cover the back."
Two deputies sprinted around the sides of the property.
The cameraman followed until another officer pushed him back.
Suddenly the upstairs curtains flew open.
Richard Parker appeared for only a second.
His face was drenched with sweat.
He looked directly at Emily.
Not with guilt.
With hatred.
"You should've stayed gone!" he screamed.
Then he disappeared.
Mrs. Parker's terrified voice echoed from somewhere inside.
"Richard, stop!"
Another crash.
Glass shattered.
Deputy Collins shouted from the backyard.
"Sheriff!"
"They're trying to get out!"
The crowd surged toward the sidewalk before officers forced everyone back.
Sheriff Daniels drew a slow breath.
"This isn't about an escaped convict anymore."
He looked at the house.
"This is now a criminal investigation."
Emily stood frozen.
Four years she'd dreamed about coming home.
Four years imagining hugs.
Laughter.
A family dinner.
Instead...
Her own parents had spent those same four years convincing an entire town that she was a criminal.
And judging by the fear inside that house...
The lies were only beginning to unravel.
