U.S. President Donald Trump said he could talk to the Salvadoran authorities to organize the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a long-time Maryland resident who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador by the U.S. government in March, but said it depends on the phone call of the El Salvadoran leaders.
Trump's comments in a TV interview with ABC News aired Tuesday came after a Supreme Court ruling issued on April 10, ordering the administration to ensure Abrego Garcia's safe return.
Despite a court order in 2019, the 29-year-old father of three was expelled from the United States due to existing threats to his life in the country. Nevertheless, the Trump administration has repeatedly argued that it is the responsibility of El Salvador President Nayib Bukele to send Abrego Garcia home. Meanwhile, Buckley claims he is not capable of doing so.
ABC News' Terry Moran investigated the president's decision not to help Abrego Garcia.
“You can bring him back. There is a phone on this table.”
“I can,” Trump replied, whose administration claims Abgreo Garcia is involved in the gang activity.
“If he [Abrego Garcia] That's the gentleman you said he was, I would do that, but he wasn't. The president told Moran, adding that the decision was not up to him.
The Trump administration said Abrego Garcia has ties to the MS-13 gang, a claim that Abrego Garcia's lawyer strongly denied when pointing out that he was never charged with a crime.
In the interview, Trump also called Abrego Garcia “a tough cookie” and said he “beats his wife's hell.”
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Abrego Garcia's wife Jennifer Vasquez Sura accused him of domestic violence and received a temporary protection order against him in 2021. She told reporters that there has been no escalation since then and she chose not to continue the court lawsuit.
Protesters expressed support for Jennifer Vasquez Sura, wife of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was wrongly deported to El Salvador. Trump administration acknowledged Abrego Garcia was deported by chance but has not acted on the judge's order to promote his return to the United States
tasos katopodis/getty images
In an interview with Time magazine last week, the president denied that his administration had violated Supreme Court orders.
According to the New York Times, amid new developments on Wednesday, the Trump administration reportedly sent a letter asking about the release of Abrego Garcia, and Buckley said he would not promote him because he is an El Salvadorian citizen and should stay in his home country.
The Times said it was unclear the Trump administration’s real efforts to ensure Abreg Garcia’s release, and the White House did not comment on the letter.
“In the Oval Office, President Bucker has shown that he will not smuggle designated foreign terrorists, MS-13 gang members and Abreg Garcia of the El Salvador State, to return to the United States,” said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
When Time was asked if he was “disobedient” the 9-0 Supreme Court ruled to return to Abreg Garcia’s ruling, the president said: “Well, that’s not what my people told me – they didn’t say yes, they said yes – Nine to nothing is completely different.”
In further doubts, Trump fully fulfilled his responsibilities.
“I left that attorney to me. I don't give them any instructions. They feel that the order says very differently from what you say. But I leave that attorney to me. If they want, it will be the attorney general of the United States and the country. I didn't make this decision.”
Earlier this month, Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen headed to El Salvador to meet with Abrego Garcia and push for his release.
After meeting him several times, he was able to sit in the hotel for an hour.
The photos released by Van Hollen's office are the only evidence since Abrego Garcia arrived in El Salvador a month ago.
Four House Democrats — Yassamin Ansari, Maxine Dexter, Maxwell Frost and Robert Garcia — were denied similar access.
In a handout provided by Senator Van Hollen’s office, U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) met with Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia in San Salvador, El Salvador on April 17, 2025.
Senator Van Hollen's office/Getty image
According to documents filed in his immigration case, Abrego Garcia illegally fled to the United States around 2011. He joined his brother Cesar, now a U.S. citizen, and found a job in the construction industry in Maryland.
He gained legal status in the United States in 2019 but was arrested last month and flew to El Salvador on one of several high-profile flights carrying members of the Venezuelan gang, despite existing orders that prohibit him from returning to the country due to threats of gang persecution.
Abrego Garcia's family was blackmailed by local gangs in El Salvador when they fled the country about 15 years ago.
He and his wife have three children, including their five-year-old son, who is autistic and has one ear deaf and unable to communicate verbally. They also raised a nine-year-old autism and a 10-year-old epilepsy.
His deportation was part of a broader government-led initiative that undermined illegal immigration.
& Copy 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
