*By Conor White*
Donald Trump may be looking to score points with his base ahead of midterm elections by turning the conversation back to immigration.
With one week to go before Election Day, Trump proposed ending birthright immigration with an executive order during an interview for "Axios on HBO" [released Tuesday morning](https://www.axios.com/trump-birthright-citizenship-executive-order-0cf4285a-16c6-48f2-a933-bd71fd72ea82.html).
"It was always told to me that you needed a constitutional amendment. Guess what? You don't," the president claimed in the video.
Birthright citizenship is protected under the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and any effort to end it would come under immediate legal challenge. Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan broke with Trump to make a firm statement against his proposal shortly after the interview was released.
"You cannot end birthright citizenship with an executive order," he said in an interview with Kentucky radio station WVLK.
Trump's birthright proposal came one day after the Pentagon said it would send more than 5,000 U.S. troops to the southern border to prepare for what Trump has called an "invasion" of asylum-seeking migrants slowly making their way through Mexico.
Some observers see the focus on immigration as politically-motivated.
"One gets the sense that he hasn't thought through the details very strongly," David Graham, staff writer at The Atlantic, said about Trump's birthright proposal in an interview Tuesday on Cheddar. "What he's really concerned with is the rhetoric and how it plays politically."
"He's remembering 2016 and seeing the magic he got talking about immigration," Graham continued, "Hoping he can recreate that and pull a win out."
However, Shannon Vavra, a political reporter at Axios, noted that Trump has long railed against so-called "anchor babies" and other longstanding immigration policies such a "chain migration," which refers to immigrants sponsoring family members to come to the U.S. She said the timing may just be Trump being Trump.
"The timing of it is definitely questionable at this point," she said, "but President Trump tends to do what he wants to do."
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/trump-says-hell-end-birthright-citizenship).
Michael Harriot, columnist at The Root. and Alayna Treene, reporter at Axios, discuss President Trump's speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos and what it means for the future of the U.S. economy.
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VF Hive: We’re joined by the crew at Vanity Fair's Hive to discuss Trump's deteriorating relationship with John Kelly. On Between Bells: USA Gymnastics scandal, Trump in Davos, and Grammy preview. With Billboard, Axios, and more.
In this week's VF Hive's "Hive Five" Kristen Scholer and Jon Kelly discuss tension in the White House between President Trump and his Chief of Staff John Kelly. Plus, how Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is handling the search for Amazon HQ2.
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Wall Street Journal reporter Jason Douglas told Cheddar that the leaders of both countries made a big show of displaying a good rapport at Davos. He says keeping up diplomatic relations can satisfy the agenda of both countries.
Snapchat's VP of Product Tom Conrad is leaving the social media company after two years. Kroger and Alibaba are reportedly discussing a potential partnership. Jason Douglas, reporter for the Wall Street Journal, explains what to make of Donald Trump and Theresa May's press conference at the World Econonic Forum in Davos. Kayak's VP of Marketing David Solomito tells us the top travel trends of 2018.
Chris Whipple, Author of the New York Times best-selling book "The Gatekeepers", joins VF Hive to discuss tensions between President Trump and his Chief of Staff John Kelly. He reveals his thoughts on whether or not the White House is broken.
In this week's "Hive Five" Kristen Scholer and Jon Kelly discuss tension in the White House between President Trump and his Chief of Staff John Kelly. Plus, how Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is handling the search for Amazon HQ2.
Jason Douglas, reporter for the Wall Street Journal, explains what he took away from Donald Trump and Theresa May's Davos press conference.
