Trump promises denaturalization of US citizens: Can he really do it, and under what conditions?

President Donald Trump has reignited a fierce legal and political debate after saying he would “absolutely” move to denaturalize some American citizens — revoking their US citizenship — if he had the power to do so, according to new comments reported in an ABC News live update on his administration’s latest immigration moves

His remarks came amid broader calls from the White House for “reverse migration,” mass deportations and a harsher crackdown on immigrants and refugees following a deadly shooting in Washington, D.C., allegedly involving an Afghan national who once worked with US forces.

Trump’s message: target “bad” naturalized citizens
In his latest comments, Trump suggested that naturalized Americans who are deemed “criminals” or “not assets” to the country should lose their citizenship and be removed, placing denaturalization alongside deportation as part of a wider immigration agenda.

The president has repeatedly floated ideas that legal experts describe as unconstitutional, including deporting US citizens who commit crimes and stripping citizenship based on conduct after naturalization.

But can a US president actually denaturalize citizens?
Short answer: not by himself, and only in very narrow circumstances.

Under current US law and Supreme Court precedent:

1. The president cannot unilaterally take away citizenship
   • There is no constitutional or statutory power that lets a president simply sign an order or issue a tweet that strips someone’s US citizenship — whether they are natural-born or naturalized.
2. Denaturalization is possible only through the courts
   • Denaturalization is a civil legal process. The Department of Justice must file a lawsuit in federal court asking a judge to revoke someone’s naturalization.
   • The legal basis comes from 8 U.S.C. § 1451 (INA § 340), which allows revocation only when citizenship was “illegally procured” or obtained by “concealment of a material fact or by willful misrepresentation.”
3. The key test: fraud at the time of naturalization
   Typical grounds the government can use include:
   • Lying about a serious criminal history on the citizenship applicationHiding past membership in a terrorist, Nazi, or designated subversive organizationFailing to disclose war crimes or human-rights abusesJoining certain banned organizations within five years of naturalization, which can be used as evidence that the person never truly met the “attachment to the principles of the Constitution” requirement.
   Even in these cases, the government must meet a very high burden of proof, and the person can appeal all the way up the federal courts.
4. Political views and ordinary crimes are not legitimate reasons
   The Supreme Court has made clear that citizenship cannot be taken away as a punishment or political weapon:
   • In Afroyim v. Rusk (1967), the Court held that under the Fourteenth Amendment a US citizen cannot be involuntarily stripped of citizenship; it can only be lost by voluntary renunciation.Modern doctrine strongly limits denaturalization to cases involving fraud in obtaining citizenship, not later behavior or unpopular opinions.
   Legal analyses from civil-liberties groups and immigration lawyers point out that attempts to denaturalize people for their political beliefs or for ordinary criminal conduct would almost certainly be struck down as unconstitutional.

Who could realistically be at risk?

If a future Trump administration aggressively used denaturalization, the main targets would likely be:

• Naturalized citizens who allegedly lied during the process, especially about:
  • Serious prior crimes
  • Human-rights abuses or war crimes
  • Membership in extremist or designated organizations
• Cases where prosecutors can point to clear documentary fraud — fake identities, sham marriages, or concealed security-related information.

Even then, those people would still:

• Keep all their rights until a court rules against them
• Have the right to defend themselves in court, present evidence, and appeal
• Face denaturalization case-by-case, not through a blanket presidential order.

What about natural-born citizens?

For people born in the United States:

• The government essentially cannot strip their citizenship, regardless of what crimes they commit.
• They can be prosecuted, imprisoned, or given other penalties, but citizenship is not one of them.
• Supreme Court rulings tie birthright and naturalized citizenship closely together under the Fourteenth Amendment’s Citizenship Clause, making involuntary loss of citizenship almost impossible in ordinary circumstances. Justia Law+2Wikipedia+2

Could Trump change the law to make denaturalization easier?

A determined administration and Congress could:

• Try to broaden the statutory grounds for denaturalization
• Pour more resources into a “denaturalization task force,” increasing the number of cases filed

But even if such laws passed, the Supreme Court would still be the ultimate gatekeeper. Any statute that allows revoking citizenship for post-naturalization conduct, political activity, or generic criminal behavior — without proving fraud at the moment citizenship was obtained — would face serious constitutional challenges.

So, to answer your headline question clearly:

Trump promises denaturalization of US citizenship — can he, and under what conditions?

He cannot personally denaturalize anyone. Under current law and the Constitution, denaturalization is only possible through federal courts and is generally limited to cases where citizenship was obtained by fraud or deliberate concealment of key facts. Political beliefs, later criminal conduct, or broad categories like “not an asset to the country” are not legal grounds to strip citizenship.