President Trump, whose administration has insisted it could not bring Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia back from El Salvador to the United States, said he does have the ability to help return the wrongly deported Maryland man, but is not willing to do so because he believes he is a gang member.
“You could get him back, there’s a phone on this desk,” said Terry Moran, an ABC News correspondent, noting a Supreme Court order to “facilitate” the release of Mr. Abrego Garcia.
“I could,” Mr. Trump replied.
Mr. Moran said Mr. Trump could call Mr. Bukele and get Mr. Abrego Garcia back immediately.
“And if he were the gentleman that you say he is, I would do that,” Mr. Trump said. “But he is not.” Mr. Trump added that government lawyers do not want to help bring Mr. Abrego Garcia back to the United States.
Mr. Trump’s comments not only undermined previous statements by his top aides, but were a blunt sign of his administration’s intention to double down and defy the courts. Before the interview with ABC News, the administration had dug in on its refusal to heed the Supreme Court order to help return Mr. Abrego Garcia, who is a Salvadoran migrant. Trump officials have said that because he was now in a Salvadoran prison, it was up the Salvadoran government to release him.
The Justice Department has argued that it can respond to the Supreme Court’s demand that the administration “facilitate” Mr. Abrego Garcia’s release by doing little more than letting him enter if he manages to present himself at a port of entry.
“That’s up to El Salvador, if they want to return him,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said during an Oval Office meeting between Mr. Trump and Mr. Bukele this month. “That’s not up to us.”
During that meeting, Stephen Miller, Mr. Trump’s deputy chief of staff and the architect of his immigration agenda, also argued that any question about releasing Mr. Abrego Garcia needed to be directed to Mr. Bukele rather than Mr. Trump.
“It’s very arrogant even for American media to suggest that we would tell El Salvador how to handle their own citizens as a starting point,” Mr. Miller said. “That is the president of El Salvador. Your questions about the court can only be directed to him.”
Mr. Bukele also refused to help bring Mr. Abrego Garcia back to the United States, arguing it would be akin to releasing a terrorist from prison.
But Mr. Trump appeared to acknowledge during his interview with ABC News that he did have the power to help bring Mr. Abrego Garcia back to the United States.
The White House did not respond to requests for comment on Tuesday night.
Mr. Trump also told ABC News his administration was right to send Mr. Abrego Garcia to a prison in El Salvador designed for terrorists, known as CECOT, despite various government officials previously saying in court that the deportation was an “administrative error.” Mr. Abrego Garcia, who entered the United States illegally in 2012, was arrested in March of 2019 while looking for work near a Home Depot.
In October 2019, an immigration judge ruled that Mr. Abrego Garcia could not be deported back to El Salvador because he faced a credible fear of persecution from the gang Barrio 18. The judge allowed him to stay in the United States under a status called “withholding of removal,” and he obtained a work permit.
But despite that order forbidding his deportation, the administration arrested him in March of this year, accused him of having ties to MS-13 and deported him to the prison in El Salvador.
“This is a MS-13 gang member,” Mr. Trump said during the interview.
Mr. Abrego Garcia has never been charged with or convicted of being a member of a gang. During his deportation proceedings, some evidence was introduced that he belonged to MS-13, and judges decided it was enough to keep him in custody while the matter was resolved. But other judges have expressed doubt about that evidence.
“The ‘evidence’ against Abrego Garcia consisted of nothing more than his Chicago Bulls hat and hoodie, and a vague, uncorroborated allegation from a confidential informant claiming he belonged to MS-13’s ‘Western’ clique in New York — a place he has never lived,” Judge Paula Xinis, who is overseeing the efforts to bring Mr. Abrego Garcia back to the United States, wrote in an order this month.
During the interview with ABC News, Mr. Trump also argued Mr. Abrego Garcia’s tattooed hands were evidence of his gang ties. Mr. Trump has accused him of being a member of MS-13, previously sharing a photograph of the tattoos, altered with the label MS-13 above the symbols.
The tattoos themselves appear to be real, but some gang experts have questioned whether they are truly MS-13 symbols.