No, SCOTUS didn't set back Trump on DACA

Yesterday's news that the Supreme Court won't bypass the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in considering the stay on President Trump's end of President Obama's DACA program was entirely procedural, and not substantive opposition.  The Trump administration argued that time was of the essence, so the Supremes should act.  But the Supreme Court has an institutional bias against such shortcuts, and for good reason.  The appeals courts exist to lessen the case load of SCOTUS, and SCOTUS needs to guard its time.

The Daily Wire explains why this is normal and to be expected, and even probably desirable from the standpoint of the long game.

That's not an unusual ruling – it would be unusual for the Supreme Court to step in to prevent a ruling from the courts of appeals. As NBC News notes:

The Supreme Court has agreed only about a dozen times in the past century to take a case immediately and bypass the federal appeals courts, usually involving a national emergency, such as nationwide strikes in the steel and coal industries. ... Monday's action by the Supreme Court leaves the DACA challenge pending before the California appeals court, where it is in the very early stages. The Justice Department has said it would take at least another year to get back to the Supreme Court for a decision on DACA's future.

In terms of political tactics, there may be an advantage to Trump:

[T]he Supreme Court's rejection is actually a win for the Trump administration politically, too.  That's because the Trump administration will not have to start deporting DREAMers – so no nasty headlines about Trump cruelty.  And meanwhile, the Trump administration will be able to claim to its supporters that it did everything in its power to stop DACA, but was thwarted by leftist courts.  In essence, Trump will be able to leave DACA in place while claiming he's attempted everything to stop DACA.  That, of course, isn't true.  The Trump administration didn't bother asking the Supreme Court for a temporary stay of the lower court's ruling – good evidence that the administration doesn't actually want to start deportations.

President Trump is a master of the video narrative.  This explanation of "the president doth protest too much, methinks" makes perfect sense.

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2018/02/no_scotus_didnt_set_back_trump_on_daca.html