The news conference will be the latest chapter in a monthslong saga over the administration’s efforts to add such a question to the census.
The Supreme Court in a 5-4 ruling last month blocked the citizenship question on procedural grounds, with Chief Justice John Roberts writing that the evidence that had emerged on Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross’s decision-making process “tells a story that does not match the explanation the secretary gave.”
The court’s decision said the Trump administration had the authority to ask about citizenship on the census—if it had valid reasons for doing so and could explain and support those reasons with candor.
After considering their legal options and facing a deadline to print the census forms, the Commerce and Justice departments announced last week that the fight was over and the forms were being sent to the printer without the question.
That night and the following morning, Mr. Trump called the accurate reports of administration statements in federal court “fake news,” adding that all possibilities were still being explored.
In private conversations with his advisers, Mr. Trump last week said he had never approved ending the effort to add a citizenship question to the census and blamed his administration for poorly communicating what was happening. Pointing to the Commerce Department’s announcement that it was starting to print the census without a citizenship question, Mr. Trump said, “Yeah, we’re printing, but we can always go back and add a question,” according to an administration official.