India, July 9 -- US President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that he will formally petition the Supreme Court to rehear its historic decision striking down his executive order on birthright citizenship. The extraordinary legal counteroffensive, delivered via a series of sharply worded social media statements, marks a direct attempt to force the nation's highest court to reverse a profound constitutional ruling issued just days ago.

The Trump administration's sudden pivot comes in the immediate aftermath of Trump v. Barbara, a blockbuster 6-3 decision in late June wherein a fractured Supreme Court ruled that the president's sweeping executive action to end birthright citizenship was fundamentally unconstitutional.

Led by conservativ...