Trump calls for US census delay after Supreme Court defeat

President Donald Trump on Thursday called for delaying the once-in-a-decade US census after the Supreme Court blocked his bid to add a question on citizenship -- a measure critics say would result in undercounting immigrants.

Chief Justice John Roberts tipped the balance in a 5-4 vote by siding with the court’s liberal minority, boosting those trying to stop the Trump administration from adding the question to the 2020 census.

The decision said that the government’s arguments were “contrived.” However, the court potentially left the door open for a new appeal -- and Trump said he’d try.

Not having the citizenship question is “totally ridiculous,” argued Trump, who is in Japan for the G20 summit.

He tweeted that government lawyers would now push to have the 2020 census delayed -- “no matter how long” -- in order to give the Supreme Court “additional information” and get a different decision.