After MAGA world criticism, Amy Coney Barrett delivers for Trump

Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett had faced vitriol for sporadic votes against Trump, but she then authored a major win for Trump on birthright citizenship.

WASHINGTON — As President Donald Trump reveled in a major Supreme Court victory that curbed the ability of judges to block his policies nationwide, he had special praise for one of the justices: Amy Coney Barrett.

“I want to thank Justice Barrett, who wrote the opinion brilliantly,” he said at a White House press conference soon after Friday’s ruling.

Barrett’s majority opinion in the 6-3 ruling along ideological lines, which at least temporarily revived Trump’s plan to end automatic birthright citizenship, is a major boost to an administration that has been assailed by courts around the country for its broad and aggressive use of executive power.

It also marks an extraordinary turnaround for Barrett’s reputation among Trump’s most vocal supporters.

Just a few months ago, she faced vitriolic criticism from MAGA influencers and others as she sporadically voted against Trump, including a March decision in which she rejected a Trump administration attempt to avoid paying U.S. Agency for International Development contractors.