section_path: Trump administration media strategy
section_name: Trump administration media strategy
paragraph_text: Trump administration media strategy
  
  The Trump administration initially called Abrego Garcia's deportation a mistake, and on April 11, the day after the Supreme Court's order, Trump said "If the Supreme Court said bring somebody back I would do that. I respect the Supreme Court." Three days later he was reminded of his promise, and answered: "Why don't you just say, 'Isn't it wonderful that we're keeping criminals out of our country? ' " and insulted the network asking the question. After insisting their error could not be undone, the administration switched to insisting that no error had been made at all. Calling Abrego Garcia a terrorist and gang member who was rightly sent away, and maintaining almost daily that he'll never touch American soil again, the administration has worked vigorously to sour the public against him. Trump acknowledged he could but would not return Abrego Garcia in an ABC News interview that aired April 29. "You could get him back. There's a phone on this desk," interviewer Terry Moran said. "I could," Trump replied, adding that if Abrego Garcia "were the gentleman that you say he is, I would do that. But he is not."
  
  According to the administration, the Supreme Court's requirement to "facilitate" his release and return does not mean the government has to take any steps to get him back, other than let him in if El Salvador chooses to release him. Attorney General Pam Bondi stated in the April 14 Oval Office meeting with President Bukele, "If they want to return him, we would facilitate it, meaning provide a plane. That's up for El Salvador if they want to return him. That's not up to us," while Trump maintained he was powerless to facilitate Abrego Garcia's return, as he is in Bukele's custody. Politico called this "a clear legal play" and sidestepping court orders, and noted it as unusual behavior for Trump, who prides himself on strong-arming world leaders.
  
  The same day, White House Deputy Chief of Staff and Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miller said "He was not mistakenly sent to El Salvador" and "This was the right person sent to the right place," contradicting both the Supreme Court's decision that Abrego Garcia's deportation was illegal and the administration's previous statements that the deportation was an administrative error.
  
  Miller said that acknowledgment of the error came from "a DOJ lawyer who has since been relieved of duty, a saboteur, a Democrat," although NBC News noted that Solicitor General Dean John Sauer had also referred to it as an "administrative error" in a filing to the Supreme Court, as had top ICE officer Robert Cerna in a sworn declaration, and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, who called it a "clerical error".
  
  Miller also stated that if Bukele were to return Abrego Garcia, he would be deported again, a view Leavitt concurred with, saying that "Deporting him back to El Salvador was always going to be the end result" and that there is no scenario in which he would end up living a peaceful life in the United States. Leavitt accused Abrego Garcia of being a foreign terrorist, gang member, and human trafficker gone back to his home country to face the consequences, adding "I'm not sure what is so difficult about this for everyone in the media to understand."
  
  DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin objected to what she described as the characterization of Abrego Garcia as a "media darling" and "just some Maryland father," saying: "Well, Osama bin Laden was also a father, and yet he wasn't a good guy, and they actually are both terrorists."
  
  On April 16, Bondi said Abrego Garcia is "not coming back to our country.... There was no situation ever where he was going to stay in this country." Others representing the administration have made similar statements. On April 18, in response to a New York Times front page headline reading "Senator Meets With Wrongly Deported Maryland Man in El Salvador", the White House tweeted an image of the front page with several edits in red ink: the word "Wrongly" was crossed out, the words "Maryland Man" were crossed out and replaced with "MS-13 Illegal Alien", and the words "Who's Never Coming Back" were added at the end. The tweet also said "Oh, and by the way, @ChrisVanHollen – he's NOT coming back."
  
  Leavitt told reporters "Foreign terrorists do not have legal protections in the United States of America anymore". She alleged that Abrego Garcia was a leader within MS-13 and had been involved in human trafficking, adding "There's a lot of evidence, and the Department of Homeland Security and ICE have that evidence, and I saw it this morning." She did not elaborate on what she saw. Vice President JD Vance publicly backed the deportation. Regarding the claim that Abrego Garcia was not a gang member, Bondi said in an interview that "We have to rely on what ICE says. We have to rely on what Homeland Security says." White House Senior Director of Counterterrorism Sebastian Gorka suggested that opposing Abrego Garcia's deportation was illegal, asking if it is aiding and abetting criminals and terrorists.
  
  The Trump administration also presented documents and press releases from the DHS that intended to show Abrego Garcia "as a gang member with a violent history". The documents included information related to the 2019 arrest and immigration hearings, a copy of a civil restraining order against Abrego Garcia filed by his wife in 2021, and information related to a 2022 traffic stop. This was part of "aggressively building a case against the native Salvadoran designed to combat an onslaught of criticism from Democrats and intensifying scrutiny from the courts". The DOJ also released two documents from 2019 that allegedly tied him to the MS-13 criminal gang, including a detective's summary of statements from a confidential informant whom the detective described as a "past proven and reliable source of information".
  
  In the restraining order, Abrego Garcia's wife accused him of "punching and scratching her, ripping her shirt, and leaving her bruised". The DHS stated "Kilmar Abrego Garcia had a history of violence and was not the upstanding 'Maryland Man' the media has portrayed him as".
  
  In response, Vasquez Sura stated:
  
  After surviving domestic violence in a previous relationship, I acted out of caution after a disagreement with Kilmar by seeking a civil protective order in case things escalated. Things did not escalate, and I decided not to follow through with the civil court process. We were able to work through this situation privately as a family, including by going to counseling. Our marriage only grew stronger in the years that followed. No one is perfect, and no marriage is perfect. That is not a justification for ICE's action of abducting him and deporting him to a country where he was supposed to be protected from deportation. Kilmar has always been a loving partner and father, and I will continue to stand by him and demand justice for him.
  
  The DHS did not redact Vasquez Sura's home address when it posted the copy of the restraining order, and she and her children subsequently moved into a safe house, as she was concerned that they were no longer safe living in their home.
  
  On May 8, Kristi Noem testified before a Senate appropriations subcommittee that Abrego Garcia "should never have been in this country and will not be coming back to this country". When reminded that the Supreme Court required her to facilitate his return, she said that would be "up to the president of the El Salvador".
  
  President Trump has disclaimed responsibility. On April 17, asked if he would bring back Abrego Garcia, Trump said that he was "not involved in it... you'll have to speak to the lawyers". In an April 22 interview, he repeated that he had left the decision to the DOJ. "I give them no instructions.... I don't make that decision". He stated that he had not asked Bukele to release Abrego Garcia because "I haven't been asked to ask him by my attorneys." In his April 29 interview with Moran, Trump again said "I'm not the one making this decision. We have lawyers that don't want to do this."
  
  When Moran told Trump "in our country even bad guys get due process," he replied "If people come into our country illegally there's a different standard." Pressed with "but they get due process," he said "Well, they get a process where we have to get 'em out, yeah." On May 4, Trump was interviewed on Meet the Press by Kristen Welker, who revisited whether he had the power to bring Abrego Garcia back to the US. He responded that if he were "instructed by the attorney general that it's legal to do so", he could ask Bukele, but the decision was up to Bukele. When asked whether he agreed with the secretary of state that everyone deserves due process, regardless of whether they're citizens or non-citizens, Trump said that he did not know, as he's not a lawyer. Welker then noted that the Fifth Amendment says that everyone has due process rights, and asked "don't you need to uphold the Constitution of the United States as president?", to which Trump again replied "I don't know."
  
  Trump also wrote in an April 22 Truth Social post that "We cannot give everyone a trial", claiming that holding a trial for everyone the administration wishes to deport would take 200 years and was not possible. The Hill wrote that this appeared to partly be a response to critics arguing due process violations, particularly Abrego Garcia's. Miller stated on May 9 that the administration was actively looking at suspending habeas corpus, the right to defend against arbitrary arrest and detention by challenging the legality of one's imprisonment in court. He said "a lot of it depends on whether the courts do the right thing or not."
  
  The Trump administration initially called Abrego Garcia's deportation a mistake, and on April 11, the day after the Supreme Court's order, Trump said "If the Supreme Court said bring somebody back I would do that. I respect the Supreme Court." Three days later he was reminded of his promise, and answered: "Why don't you just say, 'Isn't it wonderful that we're keeping criminals out of our country? ' " and insulted the network asking the question. After insisting their error could not be undone, the administration switched to insisting that no error had been made at all. Calling Abrego Garcia a terrorist and gang member who was rightly sent away, and maintaining almost daily that he'll never touch American soil again, the administration has worked vigorously to sour the public against him. Trump acknowledged he could but would not return Abrego Garcia in an ABC News interview that aired April 29. "You could get him back. There's a phone on this desk," interviewer Terry Moran said. "I could," Trump replied, adding that if Abrego Garcia "were the gentleman that you say he is, I would do that. But he is not."
  
  According to the administration, the Supreme Court's requirement to "facilitate" his release and return does not mean the government has to take any steps to get him back, other than let him in if El Salvador chooses to release him. Attorney General Pam Bondi stated in the April 14 Oval Office meeting with President Bukele, "If they want to return him, we would facilitate it, meaning provide a plane. That's up for El Salvador if they want to return him. That's not up to us," while Trump maintained he was powerless to facilitate Abrego Garcia's return, as he is in Bukele's custody. Politico called this "a clear legal play" and sidestepping court orders, and noted it as unusual behavior for Trump, who prides himself on strong-arming world leaders.
  
  The same day, White House Deputy Chief of Staff and Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miller said "He was not mistakenly sent to El Salvador" and "This was the right person sent to the right place," contradicting both the Supreme Court's decision that Abrego Garcia's deportation was illegal and the administration's previous statements that the deportation was an administrative error.
  
  Miller said that acknowledgment of the error came from "a DOJ lawyer who has since been relieved of duty, a saboteur, a Democrat," although NBC News noted that Solicitor General Dean John Sauer had also referred to it as an "administrative error" in a filing to the Supreme Court, as had top ICE officer Robert Cerna in a sworn declaration, and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, who called it a "clerical error".
  
  Miller also stated that if Bukele were to return Abrego Garcia, he would be deported again, a view Leavitt concurred with, saying that "Deporting him back to El Salvador was always going to be the end result" and that there is no scenario in which he would end up living a peaceful life in the United States. Leavitt accused Abrego Garcia of being a foreign terrorist, gang member, and human trafficker gone back to his home country to face the consequences, adding "I'm not sure what is so difficult about this for everyone in the media to understand."
  
  DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin objected to what she described as the characterization of Abrego Garcia as a "media darling" and "just some Maryland father," saying: "Well, Osama bin Laden was also a father, and yet he wasn't a good guy, and they actually are both terrorists."
  
  On April 16, Bondi said Abrego Garcia is "not coming back to our country.... There was no situation ever where he was going to stay in this country." Others representing the administration have made similar statements. On April 18, in response to a New York Times front page headline reading "Senator Meets With Wrongly Deported Maryland Man in El Salvador", the White House tweeted an image of the front page with several edits in red ink: the word "Wrongly" was crossed out, the words "Maryland Man" were crossed out and replaced with "MS-13 Illegal Alien", and the words "Who's Never Coming Back" were added at the end. The tweet also said "Oh, and by the way, @ChrisVanHollen – he's NOT coming back."
  
  Leavitt told reporters "Foreign terrorists do not have legal protections in the United States of America anymore". She alleged that Abrego Garcia was a leader within MS-13 and had been involved in human trafficking, adding "There's a lot of evidence, and the Department of Homeland Security and ICE have that evidence, and I saw it this morning." She did not elaborate on what she saw. Vice President JD Vance publicly backed the deportation. Regarding the claim that Abrego Garcia was not a gang member, Bondi said in an interview that "We have to rely on what ICE says. We have to rely on what Homeland Security says." White House Senior Director of Counterterrorism Sebastian Gorka suggested that opposing Abrego Garcia's deportation was illegal, asking if it is aiding and abetting criminals and terrorists.
  
  The Trump administration also presented documents and press releases from the DHS that intended to show Abrego Garcia "as a gang member with a violent history". The documents included information related to the 2019 arrest and immigration hearings, a copy of a civil restraining order against Abrego Garcia filed by his wife in 2021, and information related to a 2022 traffic stop. This was part of "aggressively building a case against the native Salvadoran designed to combat an onslaught of criticism from Democrats and intensifying scrutiny from the courts". The DOJ also released two documents from 2019 that allegedly tied him to the MS-13 criminal gang, including a detective's summary of statements from a confidential informant whom the detective described as a "past proven and reliable source of information".
  
  In the restraining order, Abrego Garcia's wife accused him of "punching and scratching her, ripping her shirt, and leaving her bruised". The DHS stated "Kilmar Abrego Garcia had a history of violence and was not the upstanding 'Maryland Man' the media has portrayed him as".
  
  In response, Vasquez Sura stated:
  
  After surviving domestic violence in a previous relationship, I acted out of caution after a disagreement with Kilmar by seeking a civil protective order in case things escalated. Things did not escalate, and I decided not to follow through with the civil court process. We were able to work through this situation privately as a family, including by going to counseling. Our marriage only grew stronger in the years that followed. No one is perfect, and no marriage is perfect. That is not a justification for ICE's action of abducting him and deporting him to a country where he was supposed to be protected from deportation. Kilmar has always been a loving partner and father, and I will continue to stand by him and demand justice for him.
  
  The DHS did not redact Vasquez Sura's home address when it posted the copy of the restraining order, and she and her children subsequently moved into a safe house, as she was concerned that they were no longer safe living in their home.
  
  On May 8, Kristi Noem testified before a Senate appropriations subcommittee that Abrego Garcia "should never have been in this country and will not be coming back to this country". When reminded that the Supreme Court required her to facilitate his return, she said that would be "up to the president of the El Salvador".
  
  President Trump has disclaimed responsibility. On April 17, asked if he would bring back Abrego Garcia, Trump said that he was "not involved in it... you'll have to speak to the lawyers". In an April 22 interview, he repeated that he had left the decision to the DOJ. "I give them no instructions.... I don't make that decision". He stated that he had not asked Bukele to release Abrego Garcia because "I haven't been asked to ask him by my attorneys." In his April 29 interview with Moran, Trump again said "I'm not the one making this decision. We have lawyers that don't want to do this."
  
  When Moran told Trump "in our country even bad guys get due process," he replied "If people come into our country illegally there's a different standard." Pressed with "but they get due process," he said "Well, they get a process where we have to get 'em out, yeah." On May 4, Trump was interviewed on Meet the Press by Kristen Welker, who revisited whether he had the power to bring Abrego Garcia back to the US. He responded that if he were "instructed by the attorney general that it's legal to do so", he could ask Bukele, but the decision was up to Bukele. When asked whether he agreed with the secretary of state that everyone deserves due process, regardless of whether they're citizens or non-citizens, Trump said that he did not know, as he's not a lawyer. Welker then noted that the Fifth Amendment says that everyone has due process rights, and asked "don't you need to uphold the Constitution of the United States as president?", to which Trump again replied "I don't know."
  
  Trump also wrote in an April 22 Truth Social post that "We cannot give everyone a trial", claiming that holding a trial for everyone the administration wishes to deport would take 200 years and was not possible. The Hill wrote that this appeared to partly be a response to critics arguing due process violations, particularly Abrego Garcia's. Miller stated on May 9 that the administration was actively looking at suspending habeas corpus, the right to defend against arbitrary arrest and detention by challenging the legality of one's imprisonment in court. He said "a lot of it depends on whether the courts do the right thing or not."