Long before Survivor fans had to figure out which seasons to watch first, the early players on Jeff Probst’s beloved reality show rose to fame. Chosen to compete during one of Survivor’s early seasons, Nick Brown witnessed the first player who was medically evacuated being taken away in a helicopter. That meant that Nick couldn’t follow in the footsteps of Survivor’s best players, who starred in great seasons or most of the show’s winners.
Fortunately for Nick Brown, it seems clear that he isn’t a follower. After all, when Donald Trump went from making movie cameos to being the President, Nick did something no other Survivor player has done. Nick sued Donald Trump in 2025 during the first days of the former The Apprentice star’s second term in office.
Survivor’s Nick Brown Sued Donald Trump’s Administration
After the mammoth success of the show’s first season, Survivor: The Australian Outback aired in 2001. The show’s second season, Survivor: The Australian Outback, introduced several memorable players, many of whom have played more than once.
Survivor: The Australian Outback also made a young man named Nick Brown famous. However, unlike his former tribemates who later returned to Survivor, Nick went on to dedicate his life to a very different career.
After spending years in school, Nick became a lawyer and, as a past TheThings article outlined, he ran for office. After being elected as Washington’s Attorney General, Nick went on to make headlines when he sued Donald Trump’s administration.
When Nick was playing Survivor, he was introduced to viewers as a student and a U.S. Army Officer. As Nick’s Survivor profile shows, as can be seen on the Survivor Wiki, Nick already had plans to become a lawyer when he was appearing on Jeff Probst’s show.
Nick Brown’s Survivor Experience | |
|---|---|
How Many Days Did Nick Brown Last? | 30 |
How Many Votes Did Nick Brown Recieve? | 4 |
Did Nick Brown Make The Jury? | Yes |
What Was Nick Brown’s Placement? | 7th Place |
After making that dream a reality, Nick took office as Washington’s Attorney General on January 15th, 2025. Five days later, Donald Trump began his second term as the President of the United States. On the first day of Donald’s second term, he signed many executive orders. Nick sued Donald’s administration over one of the executive orders.
Related
Survivor 47 Winner Rachel LaMont Admitted She Lied To The Jury
Survivor 47 winner Rachel LaMont revealed what she lied to the jury about during the final tribal council.
Among the many executive orders that Donald signed, the one that called for the end of birthright citizenship garnered more attention than almost any others.
A January 2025 CNN article listed the most noteworthy executive orders that Donald Trump signed right after becoming President for the second time. That list included orders to create DOGE, to withdraw from the WHO, and to delay the TikTok ban. Another executive order from the list provided pardons and commutations to people charged after the events of January 6th, 2021.
For anyone who doesn’t know, the existence of birthright citizenship dictates that anyone born in America automatically becomes a citizen. Donald’s executive order on the matter would change things so that babies born in America whose parents aren’t citizens wouldn’t automatically become citizens.
The day after Donald signed the birthright citizen executive order, Nick sued to have it ruled unconstitutional. Nick announced his lawsuit against Donald’s administration in a press conference that can be seen in a YouTube video.
When Nick’s press conference started, he began by stating that he was going to fight back against Donald’s executive order. “The president’s executive order claiming to end birthright citizenship in the United States is plainly and obviously illegal. Washington will not abide by such harmful and unjust action.”
In July 2021, an article from The Seattle Medium covered a major turning point in Nick Brown’s career. At that time, Joe Biden nominated Nick to become the United States Attorney for the Western District of Washington. Nick would be confirmed for that role and he was sworn in. Landing that role was a major stepping stone that later allowed Nick to successfully run to become Washington’s Attorney General.
Nick argued that the only legal way to end birthright citizenship would be to amend the constitution. As a part of his press conference, Nick stated that the President doesn’t have the authority to unilaterally amend the constitution.
The President has no authority to amend the Constitution or supersede the Citizenship Clause’s grant of citizenship to individuals born in the United States.
After Donald signed his executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship, the representatives from several American states sued to block it.
Related
Jon Stewart Defends Joe Rogan’s Donald Trump Endorsement
The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart defended Joe Rogan in response to how people were talking about his politics after he endorsed Donald Trump.
As Washington’s Attorney General, Nick could have filed to join lawsuits filed by other states. However, Nick instead opted to file his own lawsuit claiming that Washington would suffer “specific and unique harms” if the executive order was allowed to take effect.
As a part of his efforts to stop Donald’s administration, Nick asked the court to block the executive order.
Nick Brown’s Lawsuit Against Donald Trump Stopped The Executive Order
When Nick Brown announced he was suing Donald Trump’s administration on January 21st, 2025, it didn’t take long for there to be an update. As an article from The Associated Press reveals, a federal judge agreed to temporarily block Donald’s executive order on January 23rd, 2025 based on Nick’s efforts.
After Nick began his fight against Donald’s executive order, U.S. District Judge John Coughenour ruled on the matter. As The Associated Press’ article revealed, the judge’s order argued that it was easy to decide to block Donald’s executive order. As the order stated, the judge believed Donald’s executive order obviously was unconstitutional.
“I’ve been on the bench for over four decades. I can’t remember another case where the question presented was as clear as this one is. This is a blatantly unconstitutional order.”
Related
Jeff Probst Accused Of Becoming Embarrassing And ‘Insincere’
Survivor fans have accused Jeff Probst of being “insincere” and becoming embarrassing.
Since Nick prevailed and was able to have Donald’s executive order blocked, some may assume that the President may have been upset. After all, Donald always talks about wanting to win, so it seems like he would hate to lose.
However, some observers believe that having his executive order blocked was exactly what Donald wanted.
When it was reported that Donald intended to sign an executive order to end birthright citizenship, there was a lot of debate. However, virtually everyone agreed that someone would block the executive order.
Since it was so predictable that the executive order would be blocked, that begs an obvious question. Why did Donald still sign the executive order?
Many observers believe that Donald wanted the executive order to be blocked. People who believe that think that Donald wants to appeal the matter to the Supreme Court. Taking the matter to the Supreme Court is the only way that the laws behind birthright citizenship could change without an amendment to the constitution.
Since an amendment to the constitution requires two thirds of the Senate to vote for it, there is no way there will be one to end birthright citizenship. At least, there is no way that will happen without an extremely radical change to the political landscape.
Donald Trump
- Birthname
-
Donald John Trump
- Birthdate
-
June 14, 1946
- Birthplace
-
Queens, New York City, New York, USA
- Members
-
Wife: Melania Trump; Children: Barron Trump, Ivanka Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Tiffany Trump, Eric Trump
- Height
-
6′ 2
-
@realDonaldTrump
- Siblings
-
Maryanne Trump Barry, Elizabeth Trump Grau, Fred Trump, Jr., Robert Trump
- Profession
-
Political Figure
- Net worth
-
$2,600,000,000
- Source of Wealth
-
Businessman
- Nationality
-
American
