Featured Image Credit: Getty Images/Win McNamee
Topics: US News, Politics, Donald Trump, World News, El Salvador
Poppy Bilderbeck
Topics: US News, Politics, Donald Trump, World News, El Salvador
Donald Trump has revealed he 'could' ask El Salvador to return wrongly deported Kilmar Armando Ábrego García but also said he's 'not the one making this decision'.
Since becoming 47th President of the US, Donald Trump has enacted mass deportations leading to over 250 alleged criminals being sent to the Center for Terrorism Confinement (CECOT) - considered the 'world's worst prison' - in El Salvador.
A man named Kilmar Armando Ábrego García, from Maryland, was sent there last month with Trump's administration later admitting his deportation was due to an 'admin error'.
On April 10, the Supreme Court ruled it must 'facilitate' Ábrego García's return, however, the husband and dad is still yet to make it back to the US.
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And Trump has since addressed why he even if he 'could' he'd 'probably keep' García where 'he is' despite the ruling.
On Tuesday (April 29), Trump sat down with ABC News anchor and Senior National Correspondent Terry Moran at the Oval Office.
Trump was asked what he's doing to 'comply' with the Supreme Court's order to return García to the US.
The POTUS responded: "The person that you're talkin' about, you know, you're makin' this person sound - this is a MS-13 gang member, a tough cookie, been in lots of skirmishes, beat the hell out of his wife, and the wife was petrified to even talk about him, okay?
"This is not an innocent, wonderful gentleman from Maryland [...] He came into our country illegally."
When asked whether he couldn't just 'get him back' - Moran noting there was even 'a phone on [the very] desk' they were seated at - Trump admitted: "I could."
Trump agreed, confirming he 'could' pick up the phone and call up the president of El Salvador and say 'Send him back'.
And why he's not?
Well, Trump continued: "And if he were the gentleman that you say he is, I would do that."
The president argued he's also 'not the one making this decision'.
But even if he was the one calling the shots on García's return?
Well, he resolved: "If I were the president that just wanted to do anything, I'd probably keep him right where he is..."
Earlier on in the interview, Trump was pressed about the law requiring every single person who's set for deportation being granted a hearing first.
Trump said: 'l have to ask the lawyers about that. All I can say is this: If you're gonna have 21 million people, and if we have to get a lot of 'em out because they're criminals, we're gonna have to act fast. We can't - do you think we can give 21 million trials? Let's say each trial takes two weeks. Is that what you want us to do..."
Moran reminded the POTUS: "The law is the law, sir."
Nevertheless, Trump continued: "We follow the legal process. I can't -- I can't have a trial-- a major trial-- for every person that came in illegally, we have thousands of murderers that came in. They're gonna murder people. They already have murdered people in our country."
Despite Trump's comments, his administration has admitted 'many' of those deported to the 'world's worst prison' actually have no criminal record at all.