President Donald Trump thanked the Supreme Court on Friday for its decision to limit the ability of federal judges to issue nationwide injunctions — the latest win for a president who handpicked three of the conservative justices.
“I want to just thank again the Supreme Court for this ruling. It’s a giant,” Trump told reporters in the briefing room, joined by Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. “It’s a giant, and they should be very proud, and our country should be very proud of the Supreme Court today.”
The opinion by Justice Amy Coney Barrett, in a case stemming from Trump’s executive order reinterpreting birthright citizenship, focused on federal judges’ ability to implement nationwide injunctions. SCOTUS ruled that a district judge could block the federal government from targeting the plaintiff, but the nationwide injunctions that expand that ruling to the entire class of affected people likely can’t happen.
The decision was 6-3, with all liberal justices dissenting. It’s not the first time this wing of the court has delivered for Trump, with the three justices he selected — Barrett and Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch — cementing the conservative bloc.
“I want to thank Justice Barrett, who wrote the opinion brilliantly,” Trump said, “as well as Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Alito, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh and Thomas, great people. Thanks for this decision.”
He issued further praise when asked by a reporter about the criticism Barrett has received from some of his supporters.
“I just have great respect for her. I always have, and her decision was brilliantly written today,” he said.
Trump said the decision opens the door for him to enact more of his agenda.
“Thanks to this decision, we can now properly file to proceed with these numerous policies and those that have been wrongly enjoined on a nationwide basis, including birthright citizenship, ending sanctuary city funding, suspending refugee resettlement, freezing unnecessary funding, stopping federal taxpayers from paying for transgender surgeries and numerous other priorities of the American people,” he said.
Also this morning, SCOTUS sided with Maryland parents seeking to have their children in public schools sit out of “lessons using certain classroom materials — like books with gay characters — based on religious objections.”
The case got a shoutout in the presser, with Blanche saying, “It took the Supreme Court to set the record straight, and we thank them for that.”
The Supreme Court’s majority has consistently handed wins to Trump and the conservative majority. In 2024, before Trump had been reelected, SCOTUS handed him major wins in its July 1 decision that former presidents cannot face criminal liability for their official acts.
Now that he’s president, that’s often continued. SCOTUS cleared the way earlier this week for the Trump administration to resume swift deportations to countries other than where an unauthorized immigrant was born.
In a 5-4 decision in April, SCOTUS had already allowed the administration to continue the controversial deportations of alleged Venezuelan gang members.
In a gut punch to Planned Parenthood, the court also ruled 6-3 earlier this week that people on Medicaid can’t sue if a state denies them access to their chosen health care provider. The decision paves the way for states to defund Planned Parenthood.
The White House is clearly noticing. Asked about the underlying case in the nationwide injunctions decision, on birthright citizenship, Bondi said that would be decided in October and, “We’re very confident in the Supreme Court.”
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Nuha Dolby is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.