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Wednesday’s Supreme Court arguments over birthright citizenship went very poorly for Donald Trump. The president watched from the front row as a majority of the justices expressed deep skepticism toward his executive order seeking to deny U.S. citizenship to the American-born children of many immigrants. He walked out of the courtroom midway through arguments and later ranted on Truth Social that the nation is “stupid” for protecting this fundamental right. Trump is not a sophisticated legal observer, but even he seemed to understand that the case is not going to go his way.

There was no single turning point against the administration at arguments—but one exchange between Justice Amy Coney Barrett and Solicitor General John Sauer may have locked in the government’s loss. On a special Slate Plus bonus episode of Amicus, co-host Mark Joseph Stern discussed this pointed exchange with Evan Bernick, a professor at Northern Illinois University College of Law and co-author of a significant amicus brief in the case. A preview of their conversation, below, has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Mark Joseph Stern: Justice Barrett had a lot of skeptical questions for the solicitor general. And she really drilled down on his theory that children do not receive birthright citizenship if their parents lack “domicile” in the United States or hold “allegiance” to a foreign power. She asked how the government would know whether certain immigrants........

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