Trump in blistering attack on Speaker Ryan: He ‘knows nothing’ about birthright citizenship

President Donald Trump seems to have had enough with his Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, saying that the establishment Republican ‘knows nothing’ about birthright citizenship and vowing a new GOP majority would do a better job.

Ryan should be focusing on preserving the Republican majority in the House of Representatives, Trump tweeted on Wednesday, rather than giving opinions on the issue of birthright citizenship, “something he knows nothing about!”

“Our new Republican Majority will work on this,” as well as securing the border and closing the immigration loopholes, Trump added.

Under the current interpretation of the 14th Amendment, passed following the Civil War to ensure freed slaves would not be denied citizenship, anyone born in the US automatically becomes an American citizen. Trump floated the idea of changing that in a TV interview with Axios, excerpts of which were made public on Tuesday.

Ryan’s initial reaction to Trump’s proposal was, “You obviously cannot do that.”

“You know, as a conservative, I’m a believer in following the plain text of the Constitution, and I think in this case the 14th Amendment is pretty clear, and that would involve a very, very lengthy constitutional process,” the top Republican in the House told Kentucky's WVLK-AM radio.

Trump’s tweet was a direct rebuke to Ryan (R-Wisconsin), an establishment politician who was Mitt Romney’s running mate in 2012 and publicly disavowed Trump before the 2016 election. Ryan is not seeking re-election, and little is known about his plans after leaving Congress.

Ryan did add that the House GOP “obviously totally agree” with Trump on stopping “unchecked illegal immigration.” However, despite having a comfortable majority in the House over the past two years - which the Democrats hope to reverse in next week’s midterm elections - Ryan has done little to advance Trump’s immigration agenda.

Most recently, in June this year, two Republican immigration proposals failed to get enough votes in the House, with critics within the GOP accusing Ryan of backing an amnesty for immigrants in the US illegally.

Trump campaigned on building a wall on the border with Mexico and reforming US immigration laws. In addition to birthright citizenship, he has also targeted “chain migration” and the diversity lottery system. Responding to critics on Wednesday, he said that birthright citizenship will be abolished “one way or another.”

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. 
- Section 1, 14th Amendment, US Constitution

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Birthright citizenship not covered by US constitution, ‘will be ended one way or the other’ – Trump

The doctrine of birthright citizenship was established by the US Supreme Court in the 1898 decision in Wong Kim Ark v. the United States, a case brought by the US-born son of Chinese nationals. Six of the Justices ruled that the phrase “and subject to the jurisdiction thereof” applied to any person required to obey US laws, meaning even children of foreigners residing in the country permanently or temporarily.

There has not been a challenge to this interpretation in 120 years. Trump has clearly signaled his intent to do just that, however, tweeting that the issue will be “settled by the United States Supreme Court!”

Trump has appointed two Supreme Court Justices so far, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh. Both clerked for the recently retired Justice Anthony Kennedy are considered to be strict constitutionalists in the mold of the late Antonin Scalia.

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