Trump says he ‘could’ bring wrongly deported man back to U.S. — but won’t

The Trump administration says Kilmar Abrego Garcia has ties to the MS-13 gang, a claim Abrego Garcia's lawyers vehemently deny, noting he has never been charged with a crime.

U.S. President Donald Trump said “he could” speak with Salvadoran authorities to organize the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a longtime Maryland resident mistakenly deported to El Salvador by the U.S. government in March, but says it’s up to Salvadoran leaders to make the call.

Trump’s comments, made in a television interview with ABC News that aired on Tuesday, came in the wake of a Supreme Court ruling made on April 10 ordering the government to secure the safe return of Abrego Garcia.

The 29-year-old father of three was removed from the U.S. despite a 2019 court order barring his deportation to El Salvador due to existing threats to his life in the country. Nonetheless, the Trump administration has repeatedly argued that it is the responsibility of the Salvadoran president, Nayib Bukele, to send Abrego Garcia home, despite Bukele’s claim that he does not have the power to do so.

ABC News’ Terry Moran probed the president on his decision not to help Abrego Garcia.

“You could get him back. There’s a phone on this desk,” Moran said.

“I could,” Trump replied, adding that he is ill-inclined to do so due to his administration’s claims that Abgreo Garcia was involved in gang activity.

The Trump administration says Abrego Garcia has ties to the MS-13 gang, a claim Abrego Garcia’s lawyers vehemently deny while noting that he has never been charged with a crime.

During the interview, Trump also referred to Abrego Garcia as “a tough cookie” and said he “beat the hell out of his wife.”