Trump says he 'could' bring back Abrego Garcia from El Salvador, but won't

Carson Swick, The Baltimore Sun on Apr 30, 2025

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President Donald Trump acknowledged Tuesday that he has the power to return wrongly deported Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the United States, but has no plans to do so.

The exchange occurred during Trump’s first 100 days interview with ABC News correspondent Terry Moran, who suggested the president could “get him back” by calling Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele. A unanimous Supreme Court decision earlier this month ruled the Trump administration must “facilitate and effectuate” the return of Abrego Garcia, though White House officials previously said that power rests with Bukele.

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

“I could,” Trump responded.

“You could pick it up, and with all the power of the presidency, you could call up the president of El Salvador and say, ‘Send him back,’ right now,” Moran continued.

“And if he were the gentleman that you say he is, I would do that,” Trump said. “But he’s not.”

Trump’s new admission that he could order Abrego Garcia’s release with a single phone call could weigh heavily on Maryland federal judge Paula Xinis, who last week set Wednesday as the government’s deadline to provide more information on the case.

Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran citizen who entered the U.S. illegally as a teenager, was deported from Maryland to El Salvador’s notorious CECOT prison last month despite being granted “withholding of removal” status and legal working papers by an immigration judge in 2019. That judge ruled Abrego Garcia, who has no criminal record in the U.S. or El Salvador, could not return to his home country because gangs would likely persecute him.

During and after Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen’s trip to El Salvador on Abrego Garcia’s behalf, Trump and his Republican allies have tried to discredit the deported man — and Democrats calling for his return — by amplifying questionable claims of his affiliation with international gang MS-13. They have pointed to the 2021 protective order sought against Abrego Garcia by his wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, though no charges were ultimately filed.

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