WASHINGTON − On Thursday, President Donald Trump expressed confidence that the U.S. Supreme Court will support his initiative aimed at ending citizenship for children born in the U.S. to undocumented immigrants.

A federal judge has currently halted Trump’s executive action that seeks to terminate birthright citizenship for these children. However, when queried if he believed at least five out of the nine Supreme Court justices would agree with his stance, Trump replied affirmatively.

“I think so, yeah,” Trump remarked to reporters in the Oval Office after signing unrelated executive orders. “I just believe we’ll prevail in court, at the Supreme Court level. I’m looking forward to winning that case.”

Trump’s approach seems to conflict with the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, ratified in 1868. The amendment states, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”

Trump issued the executive order on his first day in office, January 20. He contended that the amendment was intended for the offspring of former slaves, referring to that as “good and noble,” but argued that it is no longer applicable in the context of global migration.

U.S. District Judge John Coughenour in Seattle deemed the order “blatantly unconstitutional” when he blocked it. Nonetheless, Trump is optimistic that he will prevail if his case reaches the Supreme Court.

“Birthright citizenship, if you look back at its origins – was meant for the children of slaves,” Trump stated. “This was not designed for everyone around the world to come and settle in the United States. We can’t have people coming in who might not be qualified and their potentially unqualified children. That was not the intention.”

“We’re the only country in the world that does this,” he added. “It’s absurd.”