Trump defying Supreme Court order on purpose? US president reveals he ‘could’ return El Salvadoran man
Written By Prajvi Mathur
Published: Apr 30, 2025, 17:52 IST | Updated: Apr 30, 2025, 17:52 IST
Story highlights
Kilmar Ábrego García was deported from the United States in March, following which the US Supreme Court ruled that his deportation was done in error and Trump’s administration should “facilitate” his return. World
US President Donald Trump admitted that he does have the power to bring back the man who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador, but will not do so.
Kilmar Ábrego García was deported from the United States in March, following which the US Supreme Court ruled that his deportation was done in error and Trump’s administration should “facilitate” his return.
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Earlier, the president had denied that he had the means to bring García back to his home in Maryland. However, during an interview with ABC News on Tuesday, Trump said he “could” change the situation if he wanted to.
The Republican defended by saying that García was rightfully deported. He added that a government lawyer who previously made the admission that García was deported mistakenly “should not have said that.”
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After ABC’s interviewer, Terry Moran, said that Trump could change things with a simple phone call, Trump said, “I could,” adding, “And if he were the gentleman that you say he is, I would do that.”
Ábrego García was among more than 250 Venezuelans and Salvadorans who were deported to the El Salvador mega-prison in March, as part of Trump's crackdown against foreign criminals. García was later moved to a different facility.
Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele has also said that he will not send García back to the US.
Trump has insisted that García was not “innocent”. The president has alleged that he was a member of the notorious Salvadoran gang MS-13, but García denied the claims.
Trump reiterated his claims that García had MS-13 tattooed on his knuckles. Earlier, experts who spoke to the BBC expressed doubt about the meaning of the tattoos as alleged by Trump’s team. The tattoos were not visible in other images of García’s hands, the report added.
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When asked whether his administration was complying with the Supreme Court's order to facilitate García's return, Trump said that he had entered the US illegally in the first place.
García has admitted entering the country illegally from El Salvador in 2012 but was granted an order in 2019 that prevented him from being deported by the US government, according to court documents.