Trump blasts GOP’s Ryan over birthright citizenship comment

President Donald Trump is criticizing Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan for dismissing his call to end so-called birthright citizenship for the children of non-U.S. citizens born in the country.

Trump tweets that Ryan “should be focusing on holding the Majority rather than giving his opinions on Birthright Citizenship, something he knows nothing about!”

Ryan, who is retiring from Congress after this term, said Tuesday Trump “obviously” could not end birthright citizenship through executive action, and legal scholars are divided on whether even Congress can do it by legislation.

Trump appears to be backing off his desire to do it by executive action, tweeting, “Our new Republican Majority will work on this, Closing the Immigration Loopholes and Securing our Border!”

Trump says the right to citizenship for babies born to non-U.S. citizens on American soil “will be ended one way or the other.”

As Trump considers an executive action to curtail what he terms “so-called Birthright Citizenship,” he tweets that “It is not covered by the 14th Amendment.”

He added Wednesday: “Many legal scholars agree” with his interpretation.

Trump is rushing out hardline immigration declarations, promises and actions as he tries to mobilize supporters to retain Republican control of Congress in the midterm elections. Trump says this “has nothing to do with elections.”

The president also says he’s sending thousands of U.S. troops to stop an “invasion” of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border even though the migrants are on foot hundreds of miles away. Trump says tent cities could be set up for asylum seekers even though that would not resolve the massive U.S. backlog of asylum seekers.

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