Trump thanks Supreme Court for favorable ballot decision, expresses hopes it will 'unify' the nation

Former President Donald Trump on Monday thanked the U.S. Supreme Court for its unanimous decision allowing him on the 2024 ballot and he expressed hopes that it will "unify" the nation.

"Essentially you cannot take somebody out of a race because an opponent would like to have it that way, and it has nothing to do with the fact that it's the leading candidate," he said at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida hours after the Supreme Court had ruled that states do not have the authority to determine the eligibility of presidential candidates under the 14th Amendment's "insurrection" clause.

"The voters can take the person out of a race very quickly, but a court should not be doing that and the Supreme Court saw that very well, and I really do believe that will be a unifying factor," Trump also said.

Trump additionally spoke about the importance of the upcoming Supreme Court decision about whether he has immunity from prosecution in special counsel Jack Smith's election case against him. 

The case is not about "immunity for me, but for any president," Trump said. "If a president doesn't have full immunity, you really don't have a president, because nobody who is serving in that office has the courage to make, in many cases, what would be the right decision, or it could be the wrong decision." 

In response to a question from a reporter about how his popularity skyrocketed after prosections were announced against him, Trump acknowledged the phenomenon but said that he would rather win on his policies. 

Trump also used the occasion to address the southern border, which has seen record levels of illegal immigration.

"I say respectfully to President Biden," Trump said, "close the borders, you can do it right now, you have everything."

The court had said in the ruling, which arose out of a case from Colorado, that "the text of the Fourteenth Amendment, on its face, does not affirmatively delegate such a power to the States."

Trump said during the press conference that he hoped "Colorado will unify" after the decision.

Before his public comments Monday, Trump had posted on Truth Social, "BIG WIN FOR AMERICA!!!" in all capital letters after the court's decision.

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