Yes, Donald Trump Jr. & Ivanka Trump are (likely) "natural born citizens"

A recent survey from Axios revealed that Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump, two of President Donald Trump’s children, are among the leading candidates among Republican voters for president in 2024.

Sure, a silly survey so early and likely reflects more about name and brand recognition than anything else. But it also got me to think about an under-examined question: are they eligible to serve as President of the United States?

Don Jr. was born in 1977 in New York, and Ivanka in 1981. Their dad is, obviously, a citizen.

But their mother is Ivana Trump, a Czech immigrant to the United States who did not become an American citizen until 1988.

Most would argue that Don Jr. and Ivanka are still eligible even if their mother was not a citizen at the time of birth—birth on American soil would be sufficient, as would birth to a citizen parent. That said, there has been litigation challenging even such statuses (wrongheaded as, I think, it might be), but a cool-down in the most recent election cycle. And there are some who question “birthright citizenship” more broadly (but more who do not question it).

I am far from an expert on the Natural Born Citizen Clause—I have my inclinations and a rough understanding of the legal arguments surrounding it. I’ve been much more interested in whether the political process or the judiciary is the better place to resolve these disputes—for me, the political process is far more preferable to sort out these difficulties.

That said, it may be interesting to see whether legal challenge arise in the event one or both chooses to run for president in the future, in 2024 or beyond. And it may be a good reason to amend the Constitution to simplify the inquiry—instead of “natural born citizen,” perhaps we simply want a citizen who’s been one for a long period of time.