WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump on Sunday called on US Supreme Court justices to be "loyal" to his executive order banning birthright citizenship, while bashing the court's recent ruling against his tariffs.
Trump's post on Truth Social began by calling out two of the Supreme Court judges he appointed during his first term -- Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett -- for the "devastating move" of siding against his tariff policy, adding that it's acceptable for them to be "loyal" to him in the future.
"They have to do the right thing, but it's really OK for them to be loyal to the person that appointed them," Trump said.
The Supreme Court, the highest court in the United States, is an equal and independent branch of government, intended to check and balance executive and congressional power in American democracy.
It's exceedingly rare for the White House to exert open pressure on the nine-judge panel, who are appointed to lifetime terms by the president and confirmed by Congress.
On the first day of his second term, Trump signed an executive order decreeing that children born to parents who were in the United States illegally or on temporary visas would not automatically become US citizens.
Lower courts blocked the move, citing the 14th Amendment's citizenship clause.
Last month, Trump took the extraordinary step of attending the oral arguments hearing for birthright citizenship in-person at the Supreme Court, where the three liberal justices and several conservatives appeared skeptical of the administration's arguments.
On Sunday, Trump bemoaned his perception that the court "will be ruling against us on Birthright Citizenship, making us the only Country in the World that practices this unsustainable, unsafe, and incredibly costly DISASTER. I don't want loyalty, but I do want and expect it for our Country."
They were appointed by me
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), one of the groups that brought the lawsuit against Trump's birthright citizenship policy, has said "Trump's executive order flouts the Constitution's dictates, longstanding Supreme Court precedent, a statute passed by Congress, and fundamental American values."
They expect the Supreme Court's decision "by the end of June or early July."
Of the court's current 6-3 conservative majority, Trump appointed associate justices Gorsuch, Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh during his first term in office.
Trump also lambasted the court's February tariff ruling in Sunday's post, in which the Supreme Court ruled that the president exceeded his authority in imposing sweeping duties on goods from other countries -- a stinging rebuke to one of his key economic policies, which opened the door to refunds.
"They were appointed by me, and yet have hurt our Country so badly!" the 79-year-old Republican said.
"I do not believe they meant to do so, but their decision on Tariffs cost the United States 159 Billion Dollars that we have to pay back to enemies, and people, companies, and Countries, that have been ripping us off for years."
Last month, the US government launched a tool for refunding more than $166 billion in revenue from Trump's tariffs, where more than 330,000 importers could be eligible for refunds on duties or deposits paid on over 53 million shipments.
