It is not surprising that the three liberal justices on the Supreme Court were antagonistic toward President Donald Trump’s Solicitor General John Sauer during oral argument in Trump v. Barbara on Wednesday, nor were some of the softballs tossed Sauer’s way by Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Brett Kavanaugh.

But there were three key exchanges between Sauer and the other three justices that not only get to the heart of the legal questions involved, but also indicate that Trump will most likely lose this case when it is released later this June.

1. Sauer forfeits arguing the 14th Amendment

In a strategic decision he may later regret, Sauer chose not to challenge the Supreme Court’s 1898 holding in United States v. Wong Kim Ark that the child of two Chinese citizens born in San Francisco was a natural born citizen of the United States by virtue of the first clause of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution.

Instead, Sauer argued that since the majority decision repeatedly mentioned that Wong Kim Ark’s parents were “domiciled residents” of the United States when she was born, this limits the extension of natural born citizenship to those born of parents with both “lawful presence” in the country and an “intent to remain permanently.”

But as........

© Washington Examiner