The internet was stunned on Wednesday as the Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the landmark birthright citizenship case — with one question from conservative Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch leaving President Donald Trump's top attorney stumped.
"Do you think Native Americans are birthright citizens under your test?" Gorsuch asked.
"Ah, I think ... so. I have to think that through," U.S. Solicitor General John Sauer said.
People reacted in shock on social media, calling out the absurdity of the response.
"Choosing to believe this is an April Fools joke for my own sanity," Tahra Hoops, Director of Economic Analysis at Chamber of Progress, wrote on X.
"*arguing in front of James Cameron about shipwrecks* 'Is the Titanic a shipwreck?' 'Ah…..a trick question. I was not aware you would ever bring this up,'" Reb Masel, attorney and podcast host, wrote on X.
"Showing up to oral arguments unprepared for a Gorsuch question on Native Americans is like going to Costco for paper towels and being ~shocked~ you leave $300 poorer with a vat of mayonnaise the size of a small child. We all saw this coming," Reason reporter Billy Binion wrote on X.
"Incredible lack of preparation by Sauer," elections analyst Philip Germain wrote on X.
"How the hell you going to not come prepared for a question about Natives when Justice Gorsuch is on the court?" Eric Michael Garcia, DC Bureau Chief at The Independent and MS NOW columnist, wrote on X.
"He answered this like a server answering the question 'do you have soy milk,'" Francesca Fiorentini, comedian and podcast host, wrote on X.
He answered this like a server answering the question 'do you have soy milk' https://t.co/7NxcOSJbg3 — Francesca Fiorentini (@franifio) April 1, 2026
Secretary of State Marco Rubio took a shot at trying to explain the Iran war to the nation before President Donald Trump was scheduled to appear on television networks hours later.
In a video posted by the White House this week, Rubio offered the administration's latest excuse for attacking Iran. The secretary's X account also shared the video on Wednesday ahead of Trump's address.
"Let me explain," the secretary of state offered. "Iran wants to have nuclear weapons. Of that, there is zero doubt."
"But why the attack now?" he continued. "Iran was trying to build a conventional shield, in essence, have so many missiles, have so many drones that no one could attack them, and they were well on their way. We were on the verge of an Iran that had so many missiles and so many drones that no one could do anything about their nuclear weapons program in the future. That was an intolerable risk."
The Trump administration has also pointed to regime change, a planned strike by Israel, an imminent threat of attack, and destroying other parts of Iran's military as excuses for the war. Last year, Trump had repeatedly claimed that Iran's nuclear program had been "obliterated."
Rubio's latest explanation was met with criticism online.
"Yup, clear as mud. Now we are making Israel a superpower...that wasn't on my Middle East bingo card," Danny Layaou wrote.
"That's not foreign policy language. That's a defense contractor earnings call," Wall Street Balance Sheet noted.
"This government has to be the most confused one, everyday you keep coming up with different excuses as to why you're losing the war you started," Oko Oyinbo observed.
"It's the Christian Zionists who have an apocalyptic vision of the future. Your brilliant stunt has now enabled Iran to collect tolls from every ship passing through Hormuz," Lucy Liu commented.
Former Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star Jen Shah told People that while she was in prison for conspiracy to commit fraud, she observed Ghislaine Maxwell's lack of remorse for her sex trafficking victims.
"I had interactions with her, limited interactions with her," Shah recalled during the wide-ranging interview. "I mean, I worked at recreation, right? And so she would come in and work at recreation, or I mean, to work out."
"Um, but her experience there is, uh, it's very different from anyone else's, even Elizabeth [Holmes] and I, um, she is treated very differently there," she continued. "And honestly, I chose that. I chose to have very limited interaction with her."
Shah remembered Maxwell being dismissive when people she and Jeffrey Epstein victimized were on TV.
"She made it very publicly known, well, at least to, you know, Elizabeth and I, that there's no remorse there," she explained. "It was a lot when the victims would be on TV and talking. She was just — complete disregard for them."
"You know, and this is when they are pouring their hearts out in front of Congress and for these files to be released and stuff," she added. "And so to see that kind of behavior when there are real victims that you're seeing and what they've gone through and to be so dismissive of that, that just didn't sit with me the right way."
Dr. Mehmet Oz was hit with a lawsuit by the owner of a family-owned Armenian meat market in California after he alleged that the small business has ties to the "Russian Armenian Mafia."
Anna Ivanyan, owner of Tigranakert Meat Market in Van Nuys, said that President Donald Trump's Medicaid services administrator damaged her reputation when he featured her business in a video posted on social media and alleged her business was involved in fraud in the Armenian community, TMZ reported.
Oz shared a video of himself driving around Los Angeles in January, pointing out and claiming widespread fraud among hospice and health care locations — specifically singling out Russian and Armenian-owned spots and saying Trump wouldn't tolerate the "mostly fraudulent" businesses.
"Ivanyan says Oz filmed right outside her business while laying this out ... making it look like her shop is part of a criminal operation — something she says is completely false," TMZ reported.
L.A. County has become an epicenter for health care fraud in America. Criminals have corrupted the system so much that fraud is now almost expected. President Trump has made it clear: we will not tolerate the patient harm or taxpayer funded theft any longer. More to come. pic.twitter.com/JOp8ltimq8 — DrOzCMS (@DrOzCMS) January 27, 2026
Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz said the Supreme Court was likely to rule against President Donald Trump's bid to end birthright citizenship in the U.S.
Following Supreme Court oral arguments on Wednesday, Newsmax host Bianca de la Garza asked Dershowitz to predict how the justices would rule.
"I think the Trump administration wants the Supreme Court to hold that there's an absolute rule that says you can't be a citizen just because you're born in the United States," Dershowitz said. "The [14th] amendment itself gives to Congress the right to implement this amendment, and it can do it in a way that makes sense."
"Look into the crystal ball, where does this go, when do we get the decision, and which way is it?" the Newsmax host wondered. "And is there a way for them to make a decision, but have it be sort of split the baby?"
"There is, but I think the court could say that absent congressional legislation, we have to take the words of the Constitution literally," Dershowitz explained. "But it might say in dictum that Congress has the power to decide who is subject to the jurisdiction of the United States."
"I don't think we're going to see outright victory for President Trump's point of view on this," he added. "It's conceivable we would see a victory for the other side, but it's also very likely that we'll see some intermediate decision."
"You never can predict how the court's going to come out based on oral argument, but the oral argument is trending away from the president."
President Donald Trump's approval rating on the key issue that won him re-election has hit a dismal new low, and CNN's Harry Enten is betting things will get worse.
A new CNN poll shows the 79-year-old president's approval for his handling of the economy has hit a personal low of just 31 percent just a year and a half after voters chose him to carry through on his promise to fix inflation immediately upon returning to office, but that hasn't happened and the public is dissatisfied.
"This is no April fool's joke, this is a disaster," Enten said. "All these numbers are a disaster for President Trump. I mean, let's just talk about inflation, which is the name of the game. Okay, highest disapprovals on this inflation about this time in a presidency. Whenever you have Joe Biden and Jimmy Carter on the board and you're matching them or slightly exceeding them when it comes to inflation, you know it's bad. Look at this – 72 percent in our latest CNN poll say they disapprove of the president on inflation. Joe Biden, an average of polls at this point in his presidency, 68 percent, and Jimmy Carter, whose presidency, just like Joe Biden's, was absolutely wrecked by inflation, was at 66 percent about at this point in his presidency back in 1978."
"Donald Trump, even worse than they are," he added. "So you see it here, and the one word is or phrase I might say is, oh my goodness gracious, what a disaster."
Inflation was substantially higher during Biden's presidency than Trump's second term, but rising fuel costs associated with his Iran war are driving voter approval into the tank.
"Biden'sworst number, his worst numberin any poll I could find, was 72 percentdisapprove of Joe Biden vs. Donald Trump," Enten said. "Right now, in ourCNN poll, 76 percent, 76 percent, three in four Americans disapprove of the waythat Donald Trump is handlinggas prices, and again, the gasprices were higher during Biden,but the increase has been sodramatic under the last monthunder Donald Trump – we'retalking about an increase ofabout a dollar – it's the highestincrease that we've seen sinceat least 1991 in terms of rawdollars. No wonder this numberis so high. He is beating ordoing even worse than Joe Bidenwas on gas prices, which ofcourse was such a major issue."
Trump's approval rating on the economy is historically bad compared to other presidents, Enten said.
"These are the worst inour poll – 69 percent disapprove of Donald Trump on the economy," he said. "For George W. Bush it was 57 percent, interms of the average, Barack Obama, 56 percent. Donald Trump iscrushing them on a metric youdon't want to be crushinganybody on, which is disapprovalratings on the economy – he'sdouble digits. I was looking atsome other polling data alsoabove the 57 percent to 56 percent, the worstof all time at this point. Interm number two, it's theeconomy dragging Trump down,being, of course, accelerated byinflation being so bad, and, ofcourse, the gas prices justadding up. It's like a pancaketower and you're just reachingthe top, and this is not a toweryou want to climb."
"Where doesthe Kalshi prediction market saythat we're going on inflationchance CPI year over year isabove 4 percent in any month in 2026,64 percent [chance]," Enten added. "That would be for thefirst time since 2023, so theinflation tower that we're goingup, it seems like there are moresteps on a stairway, certainlynot to heaven, more like hell, if you're the president of the United States."
Conservative Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch seemed to doubt the arguments of Solicitor General John Sauer in his attempt to strike down birthright citizenship in the U.S.
During oral arguments on Wednesday, Sauer pointed to "domicile" as the lynch pin to undermining an idea that the 14th Amendment affords birthright citizenship to the children of most non-citizens who are born on U.S. soil.
"So if somebody showed up here in 1868 and established domicile, that was perfectly fine without respect to anything, any immigration laws," Gorsuch said. "And so why wouldn't we, even if we were to apply your own test, come to the conclusion that the fact that someone might be illegal is immaterial?"
"I would first cite Wong Kim Ark on that point," Sauer replied, pointing to an 1898 case that was largely thought to codify birthright citizenship.
"Well, I'm not sure how much you want to rely on Wong Kim," a skeptical Gorsuch shot back.
All Rise News editor Adam Klasfeld saw the exchange as bad news for the Trump administration.
"He cuttingly refers to the Trump admin's reliance on 'Roman law sources,'" Klasfeld noted of Gorsuch. "Looking predictably bad for Trump."
Fox News contributor Jonathon Turley called Gorsuch's remark "worrisome."
President Donald Trump's executive order eliminating birthright citizenship is going to go down in flames at the Supreme Court, former ethics czar and impeachment attorney Norm Eisen confidently predicted on MS NOW's "Morning Joe" Wednesday.
"So, Norm, your organization,Democracy Defenders, co-counselto the ACLU in this case,challenging Donald Trump's useof the executive order here,defending the 14th Amendment," said anchor Willie Geist. "This is not the first time thata case like this aroundbirthright citizenship has beenargued before the Supreme Court.What is the case you all willbe making today?"
"We will make the case thatsince the founding of theUnited States, it's beenunderstood that the children ofmigrants born here are citizens," said Eisen. "That's an ancient tradition inAnglo-American law. It wasreaffirmed in the 14thAmendment. There's no realserious question about that. And that was confirmed, really,in 1898 in the Wong Kim Arkcase."
"So this has been goodSupreme Court law for over acentury," Eisen continued. "Congress has passed astatute reaffirming this. Anduntil the farcicalintellectual gyrations ofDonald Trump, where he doesn'tfollow the law, he thinks thelaw should follow him, nobodyseriously questioned that thechildren of migrants born inthis country were citizens ofthe country."
The bottom line, he added, is that "Donald Trumpdoesn't get to choose whichbabies born here are citizens.The Constitution and the 14thAmendment make that choice."
Trump is planning to attend the Supreme Court arguments himself, Eisen noted — the first time in U.S. history a sitting president has done this.
"I'll be in court with the legalteam today, and I'm lookingforward to Donald Trump hearingdirectly from a majority of thejustices on the Supreme Court bench that these arguments he'smaking, like so many of hisother attacks on the rule oflaw, fly in the face of theConstitution and our laws," said Eisen.
A conservative commentator met repeated pushback on "CNN This Morning" for justifying President Donald Trump's attempts to take over this year's midterm elections.
The 79-year-old president signed his second election-related executive order in this term directing the Department of Homeland Security to create federal lists of citizens and ordering the U.S. Postal Service to transmit mail ballots to only those voters, and conservative activist Terry Schilling insisted Trump was addressing a real issue and not simply trying to tip the scales in Republicans' favor.
"Look, to say that we'reterrified of losing in themidterms is ridiculous," said Schilling, president of the anti-trans American Principles Project. "It is the trend, is the vast majorityof the midterm elections afterevery single Republicanpresident or Democrat presidentwins, there's a huge pushbackin the election. So to act likewe're wetting the bed over thisis just preposterous. But I willsay that for the people that areconcerned about all of thechanges that President Trump ismaking to our election system,we should rewind a few years. Imean, in 2020 was the firstelection where not just millionsof ballots, but tens of millionsof ballots were cast through themail. This has never been done in American history. Jimmy Carter, for example, wrote anentire brief and report onelection integrity where headmonished nations that did mail-in balloting. It's superunsecure, so I think we needsome –"
"Donald Trump just voted by mail in thespecial election," interrupted former Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh.
"No, no, listen," Schilling replied.
"But there's also not any evidence ofwidespread fraud and certainlynot in the U.S., widespread fraud," added host Erica Hill.
Schilling shifted the terms of the debate.
"But the argument is not thatthere is not widespread fraud," Schilling argued. "The argument being made againstthis executive order is thathe's making all of thesechanges to federal elections.I'm sorry, but in California,they allow illegal immigrants toregister to vote. They're onlyallowed to vote in stateelections, apparently. [Editor's note: California law allows noncitizens to vote in some local elections but not in state or federal elections.] But weknow that these laws arefungible. You know, we're upagainst an entire party thatreally doesn't even believe in American citizenship."
Singh heard enough.
"I am sorry, I have toabsolutely object to that," she said.
"Please do, I love that," Schilling interjected, beaming into her face.
"Theparty that is on the other sideof that – I mean, that that isjust patently false," Singh said. "We are notagainst citizenship, and what we want and what Democrats have been fighting foris just access to to voting andvoting by mail is something thatI do, something that thepresident does, that isinherently safe, that is secure,and something that can be donewith ease."
"It is not secure," Schilling insisted. "We need rules."
"There's no evidence that it's not secure," Hill added, "that it has been widely insecure in the United States."
Schilling argued that the Department of Justice had seized absentee ballots in Georgia that showed signatures that didn't match ones on voter registrations, and legal expert Shan Wu challenged his assertion.
"Just because they got them,it means they're fraudulent?" Wu said.
"No, it means that their theirsignatures don't match," Schilling replied, and Wu chuckled. "Look,the reality is the Americanpeople need to have assurancesthat their elections are safeand secure."
"They do," Singh exclaimed. "They have in every single election that's happened."
Schilling shifted the terms of debate once again.
"Sabrina, Sabrina, let me just say," he said, beaming into her face again. "Let me say half of the country, half of the countrydisagrees."
"That's actually not true," Singh corrected.
"Yes, half of the country has very big concerns," Schilling insisted. "They're called Republicans, about how our elections are handled."
A recent poll found 57 percent of Republicans say voter fraud is the biggest threat to elections, and Singh told Schilling she's talked to many Republicans who don't have concerns about the issue Trump's order is purported to address.
"But you haven't talked to me or my friends," Schilling said.
MS NOW’s Joe Scarborough called on Republicans Wednesday to “wake up” after reporting suggested that President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin were “freaking out” over what polls suggest will be a decisive election loss for Viktor Orbán, the Hungarian prime minister who’s faced scrutiny for having eroded democratic institutions.
Trump and Orbán have long had a “chummy” relationship due to their mutual support for anti-immigration and nationalist policies, but according to recent polling, Orbán appears on track to lose in Hungary’s elections, scheduled to be held on April 12, the news of which has, according to Scarborough, sparked panic within the Trump administration.
“Vladimir Putin, [Russian Foreign Minister] Sergey Lavrov, [Secretary of State] Marco Rubio and Donald Trump, all desperately working to try to hold up a man's political career who works day and night to undermine western democracy, and to help Vladimir Putin, and that of course is Orbán, who has an election coming up,” Scarborough said. “Right now, both Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin are freaking out that Orbán, this illiberal thug, might actually lose!”
Scarborough went on to issue a plea to Republicans – notably Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who on Tuesday boasted about a clay pigeon shooting trip he took to Edgefield County, South Carolina – to intervene in Trump’s efforts to secure a victory for Orbán, which include a public endorsement and direct pleas to Hungarians.
“Wake up, Republicans!” Scarborough said. “Maybe take a break from shooting clays in Edgefield County and actually be a patriot and push back on the president supporting an illiberal thug who's helping Vladimir Putin.”
President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump received a mixed response from the audience Tuesday night at the Kennedy Center during the premiere of the musical "Chicago," with videos capturing both applause and audible boos from attendees.
The couple's presence at the venue was initially unannounced to some audience members, though others received notifications alerting them to a "special guest" in attendance, reported The Daily Beast. Video footage from multiple sources, including CBS reporter Aaron Navarro and the Daily Caller's Reagan Reese, documented the divided reaction as the presidential couple appeared in the audience.
Prior to the event, Melania Trump posted a video of herself wearing a fringed white dress inspired by the 1920s flapper culture featured in "Chicago," which explores themes of celebrity criminals, corruption, and greed.
The appearance marked the couple's first joint public outing since attending the premiere of the "Melania" documentary in January at the same venue. One attendee, Bobi Jo Swartz, an EMT and paramedic firefighter from West Virginia, expressed enthusiasm about the presidential visit, saying she was "definitely shocked" by the heightened security measures, such as bomb-sniffing dogs inspecting vehicles.
Trump's visit comes amid ongoing controversy surrounding his efforts to add his name to the Kennedy Center's exterior. A handpicked board voted in December to add the president's name to the building, a decision that prompted numerous musicians and performers to boycott the venue. The Kennedy Center is scheduled to close on July 4 for a two-year renovation.
Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-OH) filed a motion this week at D.C. District Court challenging the name addition, arguing that Congress intended the building to remain named after President John F. Kennedy without modification.
Trump has previously stated plans to spend approximately $200 million on renovating the Kennedy Center, describing the current facility as "in very bad shape, it's rundown, it's dilapidated."
CNN host Abby Phillip brutally fact-checked a testy Republican strategist during "NewsNight" on Tuesday.
The panel discussed a recent ruling by a federal judge requiring the Trump administration to get Congressional approval before continuing construction of President Donald Trump's signature ballroom. Joe Borelli, the former Republican leader of New York City's City Council, argued that the judge got it wrong because Trump is not asking for Congress to approve an expenditure of tax money.
Phillip dismantled Borelli's argument by reminding him that he was inaccurately stating what the judge had ordered.
"40 U.S.C. § 8106. Buildings on reservations, parks, or public grounds," Phillip quoted from the opinion. "A building or a structure shall not be erected on any reservation, park, or public ground of the federal government in the District of Columbia without the expressauthority of Congress."
"So, itdoesn't say anything aboutfunding. It says you cannotbuild without Congress permittingit," she continued. "And that's what the judgeis actually saying. It hasnothing to do with the money ... It's a separation of powers issue."
During a press conference on Tuesday, Trump said his administration would appeal the ruling halting construction of the ballroom. The president also said the judge was "completely wrong" in his ruling.
Far-right conspiracy theorist webcaster Alex Jones urged his followers to abandon President Donald Trump and move on to fighting the left without him, arguing that he is showing clear signs of both mental and physical deterioration.
The clip was first flagged by Ron Filipkowski of the liberal Meidas Touch network.
“When your ankles swell up three times the size they were before, that means heart failure," said Jones. "And he does look sick. And he does babble, and it sounds like the brain’s not doing too hot. And so, we just cut bait on Trump, and we just mobilize against the Democrats.”
Jones has been a fiery figure on the far right for years through his InfoWars network, pushing a vision of fighting a Satanic New World Order controlling everything, while leveraging the paranoia of his followers to sell a wide range of products, ranging from survival gear to highly-priced dietary supplements. For years, he went through financial chaos brought on by billion-dollar litigation from the families of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, whom he sent his followers after by claiming the tragedy was staged.
Though he was previously a firm supporter of Trump, in recent years, he has become disillusioned with the MAGA movement on many levels, claiming Trump's circle sold out to traditional pro-war Republicans.
