Trump says he hasn't asked El Salvador's president to return Kilmar Abrego Garcia
CBSN
President Trump said he has not asked Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele to hand over Kilmar Abrego Garcia to U.S. custody, though the U.S. has admitted deporting him to El Salvador was a mistake. In an interview published Friday Mr. Trump called Abrego Garcia's case "another men in women's sports thing for the Democrats."
"I haven't asked him positively, but he said he wouldn't," Mr. Trump replied when asked by Time magazine whether he had requested that Bukele return Abrego Garcia, given that a court order requires the administration to "facilitate" his release. "I haven't been asked to ask him by my attorneys. Nobody asked me to ask him that question, except you."
Trump administration officials have argued they can't return Abrego Garcia to the U.S. because it's up to Bukele to decide whether to send him back. But Bukele claimed in a White House meeting earlier this month he doesn't "have the power" to return him on his own. "I smuggle him into the United States or what do I do? Of course, I'm not going to do it. The question is preposterous," Bukele told reporters.

As the Trump administration continues to prepare military options for strikes in Iran, U.S. allies in the Mideast, including Turkey, Oman and Qatar, are attempting to head off that possibility by brokering diplomatic talks, multiple regional officials told CBS News. Camilla Schick and Eleanor Watson contributed to this report.

Another winter storm may be headed toward the East Coast of the United States this weekend, on the heels of a powerful and deadly system that blanketed huge swaths of the country in snow and ice. The effects of that original storm have lingered for many areas in its path, and will likely remain as repeated bouts of Arctic air plunge downward from Canada and drive temperatures below freezing. Nikki Nolan contributed to this report. In:











