Enten: Trump’s Supreme Court visit ‘an absolute trainwreck’

[0:00] President Trump made an historic trip to the Supreme Court, the first ever president, we believe, to sit and listen to arguments before the court. [0:08] This was over birthright citizenship and his executive order to severely limit birthright citizenship. [0:13] So how did the arguments go? How did the president's trip go? [0:17] With us now, CNN chief data analyst, Harriet. [0:20] And so if his goal was to go there and maybe sway the court, you know, to his side, what are the prediction markets saying? [0:28] The prediction markets viewed yesterday as an absolute train wreck for the president of the United States. [0:34] And that matches what a lot of analysts believe after listening to those arguments yesterday. [0:38] Take a look. Chance that Trump's birthright order takes effect before August. [0:41] On Tuesday, it wasn't so hot to trot. It was 20 percent. [0:45] But somehow it went through the basement. Look at this. [0:48] Now, just a 7 percent chance, according to the Cal State prediction market, that in fact that birthright citizenship order takes effect before August. [0:54] So the people who are putting their money where their mouths are very much agree with the. [0:58] Analysts who think that what happened yesterday in the Supreme Court was no bueno for the president, United States. [1:03] All right. How have Americans attitudes? How have they changed over time on this specific issue? [1:07] Yeah, you see this 7 percent here. Very low that the chance that Trump's birthright citizenship order will in fact take effect before August. [1:14] And the American people very happy about that because this has been one of the biggest switches that we've really seen in politics when it comes to something as important as birthright citizenship. [1:23] Take a look here. Birthright citizenship favor opposed back in August of 2010. [1:28] In fact, what you saw was the plurality 50 percent opposed it favor 47 percent, but that favor number way, way up over the last decade and a half. [1:37] Now we're talking about a very nice 69 percent, in fact, of Americans favor birthright citizenship. [1:43] That opposed number has absolutely fallen to just 31 percent. [1:46] This is one of the most popular issues that we see right now in the American public. [1:51] The American public very much in favor of birthright citizenship for children born to immigrants here illegally. [1:57] What about shifting views? [1:58] Yeah, OK, so you see this 69 percent, the favor. [2:02] This is part of a larger story in terms of immigration and Americans liking it. [2:06] Say immigration is good for the U.S. [2:08] Look at this change from 2024 to 2025. [2:11] Seventy nine percent overall of Americans say that, in fact, immigration is good for the U.S. [2:16] A big jump up from when Joe Biden was president back in 2024. [2:20] Even among Republicans. Look at that. [2:21] Thirty nine percent. Now, 64 percent, 64 percent of Republicans say that immigration is good for the U.S. [2:28] And more than that, this 79 percent record high, a record high percentage of Americans now say that immigration is good for the United States of America. [2:37] For Republicans, it went from a minority issue to a majority. [2:39] That's exactly right. This is a huge jump. [2:42] Thirty nine percent to 64 percent. [2:44] That's fascinating. All right. How about the president's approval on the issue of immigration? [2:47] OK, so you see immigration becoming more popular. [2:49] Trump's stances on immigration going the exact opposite way, becoming less popular. [2:53] Look at this. Take a look. Trump's not approving on immigration. [2:56] January 2025. [2:57] It was plus seven way down there. [2:59] Look at that. A 20 point shift, negative 13 points. [3:03] Independence from plus three. They like Trump at the beginning of his term. [3:06] Two thumbs up. Now look at this. Down through the floor. [3:08] Negative 24 points. So the bottom line is immigration becoming more popular. [3:12] Trump's stances the exact opposite way, becoming much less popular. [3:15] Twenty seven point shift among independents. [3:17] On Wednesday, it appeared that a majority of the Supreme Court is skeptical of the Trump administration's argument in support of the president's executive orders, [3:26] limiting birthright citizenship. [3:29] On Wednesday, even the three justices that Trump himself appointed appeared that they were not buying what the Solicitor General John Sauer was trying to sell them in terms of this new interpretation of the 14th Amendment, [3:42] which for the past over 100 years has been interpreted to mean that if you were born in the U.S., that you are a citizen of this country. [3:50] But they're arguing that there's language in the 14th Amendment that says not only are you born here, but you are subject to the jurisdiction. [3:56] Thereof, they really focused on that, arguing that if you are here illegally, if you're on a short term visa, if you're a tourist, that you're not subject to the jurisdiction of the U.S. [4:06] And therefore, you should not be a citizen. [4:08] There's a series of tense exchanges, though, between the justices and the president's lawyer. [4:13] So we're not exactly sure what he wanted to achieve by being the first president in modern history to attend an oral argument. [4:19] But clearly, his presence did not make the justices any more sympathetic to his arguments. [4:25] Now, he laughed after. [4:26] His lawyer wrapped an argument. [4:28] Then the ACLU got up, and they certainly had an easier time, though they did face some tough questions. [4:33] At times, the justices, though, appeared to be asking questions that maybe were aimed at how they were going to write their opinion and not necessarily how they should rule. [4:43] Now, the Supreme Court is a conservative supermajority, thanks to Trump's three appointees. [4:48] It is now 6-3, a conservative court. [4:50] It has handed the president many major legal victories. [4:54] But this time, on this issue. [4:56] A birthright citizenship and trying to limit it through executive order. [5:00] It appears that the justices may be willing to hand him a pretty big loss here. [5:05] But we won't know for sure until June when they issue their biggest rulings. [5:09] Paula Reid, CNN, Washington. [5:12] So, we know throughout American history, there have been plenty of presidents who had important cases about their decisions or their rulings before the Supreme Court. [5:24] But no president has ever gone there. [5:26] Why is it that no president? [5:27] Why is it that no president ever went? [5:30] Well, it was very weird today, this 75 minutes. [5:34] President Trump went to the Supreme Court because, as you hear the oral arguments, because traditionally presidents don't want to seem like they're intimidating. [5:43] They're trying to act like they own the Supreme Court. [5:47] But Donald Trump, alas, believed, I think, his presence there might make Justice Roberts and the others behave in a different fashion. [5:56] It boomeranged on him. [5:57] It didn't work. [5:58] And the reason it didn't work. [5:59] Is President Trump's relying on executive orders. [6:03] You can sign them like he's been doing, but eventually you'll get your comeuppance in the court. [6:08] And this is a hard hit for President Trump, this birthright citizenship. [6:13] And then we saw the tariffs in February being shot down and just coinciding. [6:20] NPR now is back. [6:22] PBS has to come back. [6:23] Voice of America has to come back. [6:25] So President Trump's getting the comeuppance of the boomerang effect. [6:29] Of executive orders and not understanding that the Supreme Court is a co-equal in government, as is Congress. [6:38] I know you were especially struck by Chief Justice John Roberts' comments, which we just played, where he said, it may be a new world, but it's the same Constitution. [6:47] If you were writing a biography of the Chief Justice of the United States, talk about this particular chapter. [6:54] I think this is a big moment today because, you know, with the tariffs at 6-3, people thought, well, you know, we're going to have to get rid of the tariffs. [7:01] We're going to have to get rid of the tariffs. [7:01] We're going to have to get rid of the tariffs. [7:01] Well, Justice Roberts isn't going to just rubber stamp everything of Donald Trump. [7:06] But today, the ACLU, with Donald Trump sitting there, it just was embarrassing to have a president, and this is the thing, a wartime, he's running the Iran war while he's sitting there looking at some John Eastman fantasy about undoing the 14th Amendment, which has been, you know, people have looked at that before, but for a president to actualize, and I think his executive order is going to be a big one. [7:31] has said that. [7:32] If you look at, you know, what his executive order would matter, tells you he's underestimated who John Roberts is. [7:36] If you look at, you know, what his executive order would matter, tells you he's underestimated who John Roberts is. [7:39] You don't go to law school, you don't become Supreme Court justice without a deep respect of the law and the U.S. Constitution. [7:43] You don't go to law school, you don't become Supreme Court justice without a deep respect of the law and the U.S. Constitution. [7:45] The Constitution is built to last, it's built to be amended, but it's not meant to be dealt with as it was argued by the Solicitor General today in a very sloppy, haphazard way that tells me, at least, this is either going to be 6-3 against a birthright citizen or not. [7:50] as it was argued by the Solicitor General today in a very sloppy haphazard way that [7:57] tells me at least it's either going to be 6-3 against a birthright citizenship or, [8:03] you know, what Trump's promoting, or maybe even 7-2. It did not go well for the White House.